LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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©topQ:f\§4w^ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



A NEWYEAR OFFERING 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES 



IN 



PROSE AND POfiTRY, 



BY 

REV. A. WM. FISKE. 



WE SPEND OUR YEARS AS A TALE THAT IS TOLD." PfOV. 9 : 9. 



"The moments fly — a minute gone ! 

The minutes fly — an hour is run ! 

The day is fled — The night is here! 

Thus fly the weeks — the months, the year!" 






BRISTOL, N. Ft.: 
PUBLISHED BY R. W. MUSGROVS. 

1880. 



3^ % 



COPYRIGHTED BY 

A. Wm. Fiske, 1880. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

The New Year, .... 1 

Happy New Year, .... 3 

Man Transparent in the Sight of God, - 4 

Recipe for Making Prayer-Meetings Profitable, 6 

Lines Suggested at the Grave of a Dear Friend, 8 

A School Dialogue, 10 

Our Canary Bird, - - - 13 

A Vacation Poem, - - - 14 

The Scholar's Composition Trouble, - - 17 

Long Beards, - - - - 19 

Election— A Fable, - - - 21 

The Drunkard's Cup, - - - • 23 

Fashion, - - - - - 24 

Dead and Living Prayers, 26 

The Heart and Tongue, - - - 28 

Faith and Unbelief, ... 30 

The Robin and Canary, - - - 32 

Cut Off the Runners, - - - 84 

Wants of the Professed Christian, - - 35 



VI TABLE OF CONTESTS. 

The New Year, - - - - 37 

The Liquor Law of Maine, - - 39 

Communion with God, 41 

What we Owe to Christ, - - 44 

Temperance Harrow, 45 

Dr. Lyman Beecher, - - - - 46 

Ubiquity of Christ, 47 

Light, - - - - 48 

Thanksgiving, 51 

A Fable— Flies, - - - - 53 

Familiarity with the Scriptures, etc., - 54 

Dull and Hard Times, - - 59 

The Pastoral Relation, ... 60 

Christian Love, - - - * - 78 

The Christian Hope. . . ; . 88 

The Golden Rule, - - - 98 

Salvation by Grace, - 105 

Lecture — Temper, Passion, and Disposition, 114 



PREFACE. 



When a book is born into the world, it needs a name, 
as much as any other infant. Often a name may be 
given that is characteristic of the whole work ; but, 
when the contents are peculiar^ miscellaneous, it ma}' 
take such a name as best suits the will and the fancy 
of the author. As this volume begins an existence at 
the beginning of a new year, it has received the title 
of A New Year Offering. 

The wisdom of publishing in book form, such a vari- 
ety of articles, some may presume to question. But, 
wise or unwise, when the thing is done it must stay 
done, whatever may be the opinion of critics. The 
shorter articles have been selected from a scrap-book, 
kept exclusively for original articles, the subjects of 
which were suggested 03- incidents and circumstances 
occurring at the time when they were written. Think- 
ing and writing them out was found to be a pleasant 
recreation. 

The book lays no claim to literary merit, either in 
philosophy, science, rhetoric, theology or poetry. The 
poetic articles have been sandwiched through the vol- 



IV PREFACE. 

ume, agreeably to the inclination of the author. The 
sermons have been introduced, hoping that friends may 
be interested and profited by their perusal. In the 
lecture added, a free use has been made of such facts 
and illustrations, gathered from various sources, as 
seemed to illustrate the different phases of temper and 
passion, exhibited in common life, and are calculated 
to afford some useful and practical lessons to all who 
find any trouble in controlling their temper. 

The whole book must take its chance among review- 
ers and critics, whatever may be its fate. If they flay 
this infant with their sharp knives, it may occasion 
some chagrin and pain ; but all tears will be bravely 
suppressed. It starts in life like the infant for whom 
the parent feels no small anxiety ; yet, with the hope 
and prayer to God, that it ma}' not fail to profit the 
reader b} r the candid perusal of its pages. The ruling 
object of this volume is a desire for its usefulness, by 
presenting such practical views upon the various sub- 
jects, as shall tend to honor our Divine Lord and 
Master ; and meet a response in the understanding, the 
faith, and the heart of every Christian reader. 

A. W. F. 

Fisherville, Jan* 1, 1880. 



A NEW YEAR OFFERING 



THE NEW YEAH. 

We have just entered the vestibule of the New Year. 
Think of it as a temple comprising 365 apartments, 
which are all locked up by our Heavenly Father's hand, 
who knows what is in store for us ; but who will allow 
us to know only as in regular rotation they are opened. 
Curiosity would lead us to open beforehand each of 
these apartments, could we be permitted to do it. But 
He wisely keeps the key in his own hand, telling us 
that, " sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof: " so. 
also, of the good thereof. God allows us to keep in 
mind the past, but he does not permit US to pry into 
the secrets of the future. Such an indulgence would 
be likely to unfit ns for present duty. Suppose, how- 
ever, lie should allow some angel, or waiting spirit, to 
take the key, open and conduct you through all the 
rooms; that you might see at once, and know all that 
is to befall you during the 365 days of this year. 
Would you desire it? Allowed to take the key. sup- 
pose he begins the work. He opens to you i)\\r room. 

perhaps full of joys, another lull of sorrow-: and yet 
another of joys and sorrows intermingled. Here lie 

opens ;i row of rooms lull of health, and the next lull 

of sickness, pain and suffering. Would you like to 

have it opened to you now? [n another are there- 



2 THE NEW YEAR. 

mains of some dear friend, attired for the grave ; and, 
standing all around, you see cups of bitter tears and 
sorrows, and weeping kindred. Would you like, now 
beforehand, a view of that scene ? The angel conducts 
you to another apartment, plies his ke} T , and there 
opens to you a room full of worldly prosperity ; another 
full of business troubles and vexations, disappoint- 
ments, losses and bankruptcy ; and, inscribed on the 
walls, the motto of Solomon in regard to earthly things : 
ci All is vanity and vexation of spirit." Next, perhaps, 
the angel opens a room, where } T ou may read on the 
walls, "Death ; this is the end of your probation. This 
closes your connection with time and this earthly tab- 
ernacle. Here take your final leave of kindred, your 
wealth or your poverty ; and go before your Judge, and 
render your account for every thought, word and deed 
of your life." 

Now would you, if you could, know what you must 
meet in this temple of 365 apartments, the vestibule 
of which 3'ou have just entered? Would you know 
whether all of them, or only a part of them, will be 
open to your inspection ? Oh, no ! no ! Let the key be 
kept in our Heavenly Father's hand, and all the knowl- 
edge of the future ; which He pleases not to reveal, be 
kept closely from our investigation, until the clays in 
their regular rotation shall disclose it. If life is spared 
we must know, willing or not, what each of the apart- 
ments in this temple of present mysteries has in store 
for us. We cannot think of it without more or less 
solicitude. But if our peace is made with God through 
Jesus Christ, we have nothing to fear, whatever may 
come. 



HAPPY NEW YEAR. 3 

HAPPY NEW YEAR. 



Happy, happy New Year! 

Quite new — ne'er came before — 
We with a welcome greet, 

His knocking at our door. 

Now, eighteen hundred seventy-nine, 

Has fully run his race ; 
And eighteen hundred eighty, 

Steps in to take his place. 

The months will all be new, 
And every day and hour — 

Only old names retained 
Of months and weeks of yore. 

The seasons will be new, 

From winter to the fall ; 
And all the fruits be new, 

The corn and wheat and all. 

Our Heavenly Father's hand, 
From His unbounded store, 

Will pour upon our race 
His blessings every hour; 

And all for Jesus' sake, 
For nothing can we claim; 

We ask for what we need 
Only in Jesus' name. 

Whatever He may send, 

of pleasure or of pain, 
Will all be ordered right, 

Nor should we dare complain 

God's purposes are sealed 

For the ensuing year: 
But as ('line's glass shall run. 

In order they'll appear. 



MAN TRANSPARENT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. 

The past ne'er comes again, 
Of time once rolled away ; 

Its record all concealed, 
To wait the reckoning day. 

Then let this year be spent, 

That happy we may be — 
What e'er may come in time 

Or in eternity ! 



: o :■ 



MAX TRANSPARENT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. 

In passing one of our shops the other day, I noticed 
a peculiar sort of time-piece under a glass. The wheels 
were ail exposed to the eye, through the glass, so that 
yon could see how they connected with each other, and 
moved in their regular order, and communicated with 
the pointers on the face, designating the hour of the 
day. This suggested the thought, that it would be a 
matter of great interest, to have men made transparent ; 
so that you could see how the heart beats, sending out 
the blood on one side, through the arteries, and receiving 
it again, on the other side, through the veins ; also, 
how the lungs play — how food is digested — how the 
biliary duct conveys bile into the stomach — in a word, 
how all the internal organs perform their functions. It 
would, at least, gratify curiosity, if nothing more ; if all 
this wonderful piece of mechanism could be exhibited 
to our view like the time-piece under the glass. 

31 ore interesting still, would it be, to see man made 



MAN TRANSPARENT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. O 

transparent in his moral functions : to see how all the 
faculties of the soul operate — how reason works, how 
conscience approves or stings, how the judgment weighs 
testimony and renders the verdict, how the will deter- 
mines and sticks to it; how love embraces its object, 
how faith flashes its keen eye, how all the machinery of 
the whole moral and intellectual man performs its won- 
derifil exploits. Now let us bear in mind, that thus 
man's whole soul is open or transparent in the sight of 
God. His all-searching e}'e pierces the heart, and tries 
the reins ; so that Pie is familiar with every particular 
of men's characters, even more so than the human eye 
is with the various parts of the time-piece under the 
glass. Since God so perfectly knows us, it is most im- 
portant to know ourselves. The maxim of Thales, 
"Know thyself" ought to be kept before the mind of 
every generation ; for the practical value of the instruc- 
tion packed into those two words, when placed to- 
gether. 

Moreover, God lias given us His word, which reflects 
every man's character as the mirror reflects the image 
of the object placed before it. It shows the good, if 
there is any, that it maybe cherished; and the evil, 
that it may be put away. The fact of our moral trans- 
parency in the sight of God, should incite us to great 
care, that our thoughts, motives, affections and deport- 
ment be Mich as to please Ilim in all things. 



b RECIPE FOR MAKING PRAYER-MEETINGS PROFITABLE. 

RECIPE FOR MAKING PRAYER-MEETINGS 
PROFITABLE. 

Go with a heart warmed with love to Christ and 
Christian brethren. Cany a spirit of prayer with you ; 
and then you will be sure to haye it when you s;et there. 
Be ready and prompt to speak and pray ; and, if you 
can, sing. Wait not to be called upon to do triese 
duties. Wait not for others, who are disposed to be 
delinquent. Let the time be so fully occupied in read- 
ing a short portion of Scripture, in prayer, siugiug and 
remarks ; and with such readiness and earnestness, that 
it may seem as if one could hardly wait for another. 
Backwardness and waiting throw a deathly chill into 
the meeting. 

Let there be one subject only at each meeting, and 
that be suggested by the portion of Scripture read ; 
and let all the remarks made haye a bearing on that 
subject ; and let ordinary seasons of social prayer not 
exceed one hour. 

Let brevity be obseryed. Long prayers are apt to 
abound in vain repetitions, and prolonged remarks are 
often tedious. The example of prayer given by our 
Lord and Saviour may be easily repeated in half a 
minute. The prayer of the publican comprises only 
six words, and still is very comprehensiye. From three 
to fiye minutes is as long us is usually profitable for 
any brother at one time to occupy in remarks or prayer. 
In the closet one may pray all night, if he chooses ; but 
in the social circle, let him be short, specific, fervent. 
Keep the exercises free from all friction of unkind feel- 



RECIPE FOR MAKING PRAYER-MEETINGS PROFITABLE. 4 

ings and censorious remarks ; and let every mind and 
heart be so oiled up with the graces of the Spirit, that 
every wheel shall run easy. Let it be manifest that all 
are of one mind, heart and spirit, and that spirit be the 
spirit of Christ. 

Let attendance on these meetings be regular and con- 
stant as possible. Be sure to go, if possible. Go and 
see who are there, for you will not be likely to know if 
you are absent. If your faith is weak, go ; if your 
love is chilled, go ; if hope is clouded, go ; if joy and 
peace fail to rise in your soul, go. Every Christian be 
sure, if possible, to go. that the activities of the soul 
may be stirred up and drawn out in the service of Christ. 
If you have a long time staid away, and the Christian 
armor has got rusty, go. " Prayer makes it bright ; " 
burnishes the shield, the sword, the helmet and the 
breast-plate of righteousness. Go, if you expect only 
a few to be there; for, if you stay away, the number 
will he still less. Go, as did the good deacon, to the 
old red school-house, year after year, and often alone : 
and. like him. you may, by-and-by, find the house tilled 
with anxious and prayerful worshipers, and see souls 
converted to Christ. 

Go, expecting the presence and refreshings of the 
Holy Spirit, and expecting to meet Jesus there, agree- 
ably to his promise, that where two or three are gath- 
ered in His name. He will be in the midst i^' them. 
Be sure and go to the prayer-meet ing. when it is | 

sible, even at the sacrifice of ease, and profit in worldly 
things; and you will find a rich reward in it to your 

soul, and see blessings descend upon the church oi' 

Christ. 



8 LINES SUGGESTED AT THE GRAVE OF A FRIEND. 

Go ! all go ! and cany out these suggestions, and 
God's blessing will be with you, sure as his promises. 
Try faithfully this recipe. Never has it been known 
to fail. 



: o :- 



LINES 

Suggested on visiting the grave of a dear departed friend. 
This spot I visit oft, 

To drop affection's tear, 
The resting-place of one 
Whose niem'ry is most dear. 

These evergreens were set 
By hands of love and care — 

Memorials of the friend 

Whose dust lies buried here. 

Hosts of impressive thoughts 
Kush fresh upon my mind, 

While lingering at the grave 
Of this departed friend. 

Her dust alone is here ; 

The priceless spirit — where? 
'Tis gone to be with Christ, 

The bliss of heaven to share ! 

Bless'd spirit, couldst thou speak, 
I'd ask the, What is heaven? 

And love to hear thee tell 

How praise to Christ is given ; 

Who leads the heavenly choir ; 

How saints join harp and voice ; 
And all the hosts of heaven 

In one sweet song rejoice ! 



LINES SUGGESTED AT THE GRAVE OF A FRIEND. 

Hast thou a harp of gold ? 

A crown upon thy head ? 
A palm of victory? 

A sceptre at thy side ? 

Such questions I forbear; — 
I'll trust God's Word alone ; 

Since spirits ne'er reveal 
What thiugs in heaven are done. 

This tells me ear nor eye 
Hath ever heard or seeu, 

Nor mind of man conceived 
The joy of saints in heaven ! 

Then tell me not that death 

Is other than a friend, 
To bear the ransomed soul 

To joys that never end. 



Death surely is a friend 

To every true believer. 
He comes to cut life's ties, 
And thus the soul deliver 
From all sin, 

From all tears, 
From all pain, 
From all fears. 

Death, too, indeed, is gain $ 

To every true believer; 
Whose Lope is sure of heaven, 

His glorious home forever; 
Where all's love, 

Where airs bliss, 

Where all's praise, 
Where Christ is. 



10 A SCHOOL DIALOGUE. 

A SCHOOL DIALOGUE. 

[The daughter, just returned from the High School, finds her 
mother knitting, with cap and spectacles, etc.'] 

Tabby. How do you do, dear mother? How glad 
I am to see you ! I hope you are very well. (Kisses 
her. ) 

Mother. Why ! massy on us ! Tabby, dear, is it 
you that's come? How have you ben these school- 
days? I'm merciful glad to see you! indeed, I am. 
Have you ben well ? 

Tabby. Yes, mother ; and had a good time — a good 
teacher, who has the snap in her, and who makes us 
all toe the line, and a straight line, too. She wouldn't 
let us whisper, nor be idle, nor fail to get our lessons, 
and was very particular in everything. Oh, mother, I 
liked her very much, and my school-mates, too. 

Mother. Hope 3 T ou've ben larnin' right smart. It 
was hard for me to spare you, leavin' me to do all the 
work alone. I've had to work awful hard to keep you 
in school. I've ben knittin', and sewin', and bakin', 
and washin', and serubbin', and blackin' the stove, be- 
sides worry in' about you, lest you should git into bad 
comp'ny and behave badly yourself. 

Tabby. Why, mother ; I've been good. See, here's 
my roll of standing in my class. (Showing the record.) 
Twenty-five is perfect. You see my mark is twenty- 
four in grammar, twenty-three and one-half in arith- 
metic, twenty-one and a quarter in spelling, and in 
deportment twenty-two and five-eighths. Isn't that 
good, mother? 

Mother. Guess you've ben doin' something and you 



A SCHOOL DIALOGUE. 11 

ought to be better after spendin' so much money that 
your father and I have labored so hard to arn. 

Tabby. Mother, I wish you wouldn't pronounce 
your words so. It is very improper and vulgar. 

Mother. Pernounce how ? 

Tabby. You say doin > for doing, and somethin* for 
something. Just now you said knittin' and sewin' and 
bakin' and cookin' and washin' and scrubbin' ; and 
3 r ou say ben for been, and git for get. You pronounce 
i-n-g in\ when you should say lag. My teacher says 
such pronunciation is very improper, and that it is 
evidence of a defective education, and a want of good 
taste, and an abuse of the English language. 

Mother. Why, Tabb}^ ; you've got to be very nice 
by goin' to the High School, and now you come home 
to teach your mother, who is above three times as old 
as you — yes, teach her how to talk ! I larned to talk 
afore you was ever born, and had good larnin' enough, 
and you needn't go to makiu' a fuss about my peruun- 
ciation, for I won't have it. Shame on you, to think 
to teach your mother, who is old enough to teach that 
High School you've ben to, teacher and all. 

Tabby. Yes, mother, you are old enough, if that's 
all. But I tell you thatti-n-g spells ing, not in . Why 
not pronounce it right? 

Mother. 'Tis right 'null', and I don't care If it ain't 
'cordin' to the High School way. 

Tabby. Where's father? 

Mother. He's choppin' wood. Just now he was 
smokin' his pipe. Last fall, when you's gone, be was 
diggin' pertaters and gittiu' 'em into the cellar ; and 



12 A SCHOOL DIALOGUE. 

then he was huskin' corn, and drivin' all sorts of 
farmin' work. 

Tabby. There, mother ! you've done it again. It's 
too bad to murder words by such pronunciation. 

What's the reason } T ou won't try to pronounce right, 
mother ? 

Mother. I speak as the neighbors do. There's your 
Aunt Bumper and Uncle Logman talk jest as I do, 
and there's no need and no use at all bein' so pertic- 
uler callin' words. 

Tabby. So you mean to keep up that vulgar habit. 
I'm very sorry you won't correct yourself. 

Mother. Your father talks jest as I do. 

Tabby. Yes, mother ; I know it, and you can't 
break him of the habit. 

Mother. No — any more'n you can break him of 
the evil habit of chewin' and smokin' terbacker. 

Tabby. Well, I think it is too bad to abuse the 
English language after this sort. Our teachers would 
think you very ignorant and uncultivated and vulgar, 
should they hear you talk so. 

Mother. What do you think }'ou'll do, Tabbj', when 
you git to keepin' school ? 

Tabby. One thing, I know„ mother. I'll be sure 
to pronounce i-n-g ing, not in'. I shall not say spellin' 
for spelling, nor parsin' for parsing. 

Mother. Well, I clon't know what you'll come to, if 
you go much longer to that 'ar High School. Mebbe 
you'll git so full of larnin', and you'll know so much 
more'n your old mother, that there'll be no liviu' with 
you in peace. \_Exit.~] 



OUR CANARY BIRD. 13 

OUR CANARY BIRD. 

A more sensible and happy little bird than our 
canary it would be difficult to find. As a singer he Is 
superb. With a voice of silvery sweetness, and of 
large compass for the size of hi s musical organs ; he 
charms all the musical ears within hearing. He seems 
delighted with his own music, and, making a short pause 
after a performance ; looks about and seems proudly to 
say : What think you of that? Is it not charming? 
Like a hand-organ, he has a fixed number of tunes, and 
can practice none but these. When about to strike up 
his best tunes, he usually calls out, chip, chip, chip, 
meaning, now give attention ; and he dashes away with 
all his power, like an earnest fiddler, in the quickest 
notes possible ; when the vibrations of his little glottis, 
and bill, are rapid as the reeds of an organ. 

He has a sharp, keen eye, about the size of a pin- 
head, and a dress of tasteful pale yellow, trimmed with 
black, and a black cap on his head ; very much in the 
style now worn by young ladies, which they call hats. 
His claws are long and sharp as needles, and his legs 
about the size of a brass pin. He is, indeed, called a 
splendid bird ; made up chiefly of lungs and feathers. 
He is never still lor a minute by day, but hopping about 
his little cage, as If his business was very important 
and pressing, lie eats in haste, as if he could hardly 
afford the time tor that purpose ; and is very fond of 
variety ; as seeds, boiled egg, cracker, duckweed, 
sweet apples, etc. With peculiar skill he snaps oil' the 
shell, and takes only the meat of the seeds. It is 
amusing to see him bathe and make his toilet in the 

morning. When fresh water is given him, he first tastes 



14 A VACATION POEM. 

it, then dips in his head, washing his face ; this several 
times done, he steps in and bathes himself entire, mak- 
ing the water fly with his wings in all directions, like a 
shower. This done, he shakes himself several times, 
and makes his toilet with as much care as the young 
lad}^ before the mirror preparing for companj^. When 
the evening comes, he perches himself on the highest 
stick, in the attic of his cage ; rolls himself up in the 
form of a ball, with his head tucked under one wing, 
and so rests quietly till the morning. At an early hour 
he begins the new da} T with a sweet song, and seems 
ever joyous and happy as a bird can be. 



o :- 



A VACATION POEM. 

[This was the production of one just slipping off the shoes of a Freshman 
and putting on those of a Sophomore— an appointment by the Freshman 
Debating Club.] 

Midst other things of some concern, 
Our Club resolved on their return, 

After a short vacation ; 
That one or more should use the quill, 
And during absence try his skill 

In making composition. 

Ac modo est, in usual mood, 

The Club returned, their plan pursued, 

And first comes A's oration; 
Now comes the poem in its turn, 
A very hasty, crude concern, 

Made in a brief vacation. 

While I perform this direful task, 
Your sober patience now I ask, 

As I rehearse the sequel ; 
I'm sure you've not expected much, 
And surer still my rhyme is such, 

You'll nowhere find its equal. 



A VACATION POEM. 15 



-f£ 



My name shall be the phantom Fame, 
Which poets often strive to gain, 

With painful toil and might; 
But rare secure the gew-gaw ghost, 
So bubble like a thing, she's lost, 

While scarce you've gained her sight, 

We know some bards of olden time, 

Pen'd thoughts that burn in worlds sublime, 

In lines that harmonize ; 
Keen muses did their verse inspire, 
And fiPd.them with a bard-like fire, 

Which won a world wide praise. 



Horner, the pride of every age, 

With thoughts sublime bedeck'd his page, 

Heroic in his song ; 
And Virgil, too, who's not behind 
The first of poets of his kind, 

Is one among the throng. 



Once Milton was, and Grey, and Watts, 
Cowper, and Young, and Pope, and Scott, 

And others we might mention ; 
Whose works like heaven's bright lamp illumes 
The darkness that o'erspreads the tombs, 

Much fam'd in every nation. 



We would not say that those we've nani'd 
Wrote merely that they might be fam'd, 
And win the laud of nations ; 

But fain would hope that they designed 

To enlighten and improve; mankind, 
Of every grade and station. 



16 A VACATION POEM. 

These poets were, but now are not, 
Their flesh like ours, was made to rot, 

When mortal life is o'er ; 
Unlike a rocket in the sky, 
They leave a train that will not die, 

Till time shall be no more. 

Tho' Fame's proud temple towers so high 
Its spire seems lost in the deep blue sky, 

'Tis but a fickle spleuclor; 
That mortal man should strive to rise, 
And toil his life for such a prize, 

Is truly a great wonder, 

Same's but a poltroon, let her die, 
Sunk in oblivion, let her lie, 

A long, a long vacation; 
Yea, let this tempter ever rest, 
With all her evils deep in dust, 

Without a resurrection. 



May useful living be our aim, 
Instead of seeking empty fame, 

While we remain in college ; 
And our Creator grant his aids, 
That we may fill our empty heads 

With much substantial knowledge. 



The poet's yoke thus hard to bear, 
In time to come I shall beware, 

In our concise vacations ; 
My task is done; and hard my job, 
And now I beg the Freshman Club 

Pardon my frail exertions. 



THE SCHOLAR'S COMPOSITION TROUBLE. 17 



THE SCHOLAR'S COMPOSITION TROUBLE. 

" Composition day is coming, and oh ! what shall I 
do? This writing compositions is the hardest thing! 
Well, I've tried to get excused, but my teacher won't 
excuse me, though it's awful hard. I have been trying 
to think up a subject, but if I get one, I can't think of 
anything to write about it. If I make one sentence, I 
am troubled to make another to match it ; and then to 
avid another, and enough to make up fifteen lines, is a 
great task. 

"Composition ! composition ! What does it mean? I 
have studied Latin a little, and my teacher says the 
word is derived from con and po?io, which the diction- 
ary says signifies to put or place together, or to put 
words together so as to convey sensible ideas. My 
teacher tells me to think, or set uty intellectual mill 
running. Think and think, and then write what I 
think. He says I must think of what I have seen and 
heard and read, and learned in various other ways, and 
then put my thoughts on paper, and I shall have a 
composition. One thing I have learned is, that the 
English alphabet is a composition of just twenty-six 
letters ; and that all the words that fill thousands of 
volumes are expressed by the multiplied combinations 
of these letters. Now, of these, my teacher says l 
have the \\\^i use to work up into a composition, with 
all the seventy or eighty thousand words in Webster's 

Dictionary, which is a wonderful composition book. 
He says I can take my choice of all these words, and 

3 



18 THE SCHOLAR'S COMPOSITION TROUBLE. 

use them as I please. He tells me, also, that I must 
think more, and call to miucl things past, and what I 
know of things present. I will try. 

i4 From rny geography, I have learned that the earth 
is a composition of land and water, and a multitude of 
other things. My philosophy tells me that the atmos- 
phere is a composition of oxygen and nitrogen, and 
that water is a composition of oxygen and hydrogen ; 
and that the rainbow is a composition of seven different 
colors. I have read that there are 222,000 books in 
Harvard College library, and yet, it is true that all of 
them in the English language, with their millions of 
words, have only 26 different letters. Such a marvel- 
ous combination and composition astonishes me ! 

U I now see that our school is composed of teachers, 
and composition writers, books and other necessary 
things : also, that the human body is a very curious 
composition of bones, muscles, nerves, blood, heart, 
tongue, eyes, ears, hands, feet, and other organs too 
many to name. These, with the soul added, make up 
the man ; who is the most wonderful of all created com- 
positions, physical and intellectual. Society, I notice, 
is a composition of good and bad people. Indeed, the 
world is full of compositions, everywhere abounding, 
and teaching valuable lessons. It does not seem so 
hard, after all, to make a school composition, when 
well begun. It is only, as my teacher says, to open 
our eyes, and take a sharp look at objects, and then 
think, and think, and then write what we think, and 
the task is done." 



LONG BEARDS. 19 

LONG BEARDS. 

"Why don't you cut off that ugly beard ?" saidJoe 
Shave to Bill Beard. "Ugly?" replied Bill, "why 
so? It is a part of myself that my Creator made, as 
much as He did the face on which it grows ; and you 
have no more right to call it ugly, than you have to 
call me so." tw I mean no offence, Bill ; but I see no 
good reason for wearing that bushy stuff on your face.'' 
" Then I must believe you very short-sighted, as well 
as ignorant of the value of a beard ; though it is not 
so strange, since you raise none yourself, except to de- 
stroy it as fast as it grows." kt Tell me, then," said 
Joe, " what is the use of wearing on your phiz what 
looks fit only for a shoe-brush?" "I don't like," re- 
plied Bill, " the comparison of a beard to a shoe-brush, 
any more than you would like to have the hair upon 
3 T our head compared to a kitchen broom. Now, Joe, 
if you will be candid, I will give you some good rea- 
sons for wearing the beard. In the first place, there is 
great comfort in it, as a protection to the face, throat 
and lungs, in cold weather. It is also a protection 
against the hot sun in warm weather, and no burden 
at all. Then it costs much time and material for con- 
stant shaving. Another reason against this act is, 
that taking off the beard abstracts from a man's man- 
liness. A man without a beard is not so much of a 
man, as a man with a beard. To cut it oil', makes him 
look womanish. A shaggy lion shorn of his mane, 
would be shorn of his dignity and majesty, and made 
a Comparatively inferior animal. As it would be a 
war and insult upon nature to shear a shaggy lion. 



20 LONG BEARDS. 

it is a war upon nature to shave off a man's beard. A 
man has no more right to cut off his beard, than a 
woman has to put one on. Besides, it is anti-apostolic 
and anti-scriptural to shave off the beard. The Jews 
were expressly forbidden by Moses, acting under di- 
vine authority, to cut off their beards. Exceptions 
were made to this, when persons were afflicted with 
leprosy. Such were to have all the hair shaved from 
their heads, together with their beards and eyebrows, 
to aid in the cure of this disease. To be deprived of 
the beard, was regarded as a matter of so great morti- 
fication that David's servants, who had been shaved by 
Hanum. King of the Ammonites, were bid by David to 
tarry at Jericho till their beards were grown. In time 
of affliction and mourning, the Jews were allowed to 
cut off their beards. The ancient prophets, apostles 
and dignitaries of the church, kings, governors and 
subjects, wore long beards : and it was regarded very 
disgraceful to have this badge of manliness and dignity 
taken away. The ancient Germans regarded cutting 
off the beard a high offence. Among the Eastern na- 
tions generally, the beard ever has been and is still 
regarded as a badge of manly dignity and honor. So 
now with Jews, Turks and others. The Arabs look 
upon their beards as sacred ornaments, given by God, 
to distinguish them from women. They never shave. 
The Persians say that the beard is the perfection of 
the humau face. Examples of antiquity are abundant 
against the modern practice of shaving. The custom 
of doing this, it is said, came into use during the reign 
of Louis XIII. and XIV., of France; each of whom 



ELECTION — A FABLE. 21 

ascended the throne without a beard. Courtiers, and 
people of the cities, began to shave, in order to look 
like the king ; and as he took the lead in all matters of 
fashion, on the continent of Europe, shaving became 
general ; but it is only since the beginning of the last 
century, it is said, that shaving off the whole beard 
became general. The custom of wearing the beard 
has been wisely revived in our own countiy, generally, 
and never should again be abandoned. It is best to 
wear all the beard, at such length as is most convenient. 
But, if an}' part is shaved, let it be the upper lip ; 
which is the most inconvenient and distasteful place to 
wear it. Some one has called the mere moustache the 
1 drapery on the lip for the loss of brains.' Fancy 
shaving, generally, is objectionable, on the ground of 
good taste, and as detracting by so much from man's 
dignity, beauty and manliness. But here we leave the 
subject, for the candid consideration of all the shavers 
and the anti-shavers." 



ELECTION— A FABLE. 

A certain frog-pond became a place of great excite- 
ment. The frogs and tadpoles all set to leaping and 
splashing and twattling about the election of a king. 
It was quite amusing to stand beside this pond and 
the water math; turbid, by stirring up the Blth from the 
xvvy bottom. In different parts of the foul water, some 
of tin; big frogs climbed upon old l<>g^. which peered 

just above the water, and there croaked ; some tor one 
candidate and some for another, and a few for a third. 



22 ELECTION — A FABLE. 

upon whose head they wished to place the crown. The 
ambitious and selfish leaders set the whole amphib- 
ious tribe in great commotion. Everything was said 
and done that wisdom and wit and sophistiy could 
suggest, to put the favorite candidate upon the throne. 
Some croaked for their candidate, affirming that he 
would confer special favors upon those who would 
croak him into office. Others croaked in favor of a 
different candidate, for a like reason. Those who 
croaked for a third candidate for the crown, kept them- 
selves on the skirts and shoal places in the pond, on 
the pretext that they did not like either of the other 
candidates. Little squads of these reptiles collected 
in various locations in the pond, contriving by what 
means they could best succeed in their designs, in 
making their favorite the king. 

The day appointed for the decision came ; and the 
amphibious tribe, of all sorts, engaged in the strife of 
electing their several candidates. What a gathering 
it was ! Every frog and tadpole, old and young, that 
could be enticed or bribed into service, came forward ; 
some decripit by age, and some sick and nearly as 
much dead as alive, and hardly able to leap at all, 
were carried to the gathering. After some delay the 
result was proclaimed, and the successful candidate 
was crowned king of the pond for one year. 

Moral. True patriotism, and not self or party in- 
terest, should be made a rule of action. The truly 
wise will not consent to be used as tools, to work out 
the evil designs of selfish demagogues. 



the drunkard's CUP. 23 

THE DRUNKARD'S CUP. 

Touch not the drunkard's cup, 

Taste not the poison there ; 
Far keep it from your lips — 

'Tis ruin, death, despair. 

It has an adder's sting, 

It has a serpent's bite ; 
'Tis fever in the brain, 

To mind, a wasting blight. 

See thro' the human frame, 

The fated venom fly ; 
Till, by the deadly bane, 

Both mind and body die. 

War has its millions slain, 

Widows and orphans made ; 
And raging plague has sent 

Its myriads to the dead. 

But alcoholic drinks, 

A pest more deadly far, 
Has swept more souls from earth 

Thau plague or wasting war. 

Touch not the death-filled cup ; 

Abstain from alcohol; 
Then may you hope to 'scape 

The drunkard's dreadful fall. 

Ne'er make nor sell, nor drink, 

Nor smile on such a foe, 
By which so many sink 

To death and fearful woe. 

Come, join the temp'rance band ; 

With one consent, come all, 
And firmly take your stand 

A- lues to alcohol. 



24 FASHION. 



FASHION. 



It has been said, that a one ma}^ as well be out of 
the world as out of fashion." Well, it does seem as if 
some people fear to disobey the dictates of fashion 
about as much as they fear to die. Fashion — what is 
it? It was one thing yesterday, and will be another 
thing to-morrow, and }^et another the day after. It is 
as fickle as the wind, and ever changing, like the moon. 
Fashion is a tyrant, and not a few regard it more dis- 
graceful to disobey him, then they do to break the ten 
commandments. Where is the tyrant more arbitrary 
and exacting than King Fashion? He rules his sub- 
jects from head to feet, and they consent to be his 
abject slaves. He overrides and breaks down all their 
independence and individuality. If he orders a stove- 
pipe hat, a hard or a soft hat, a bell-top or a thimble- 
top, a wide brim or a narrow brim, a low crown or a 
high crown, his subjects hasten to obey. If he orders 
coats to be made long or short, with loose sleeves or 
tight sleeves, with high collars or low collars, sack 
style or frock style, broad-skirted or swallow-tailed, all 
fashion lovers will }ieldto the dictation. If he orders, 
as the style for the feet, round toes or square toes, 
broad toes or narrow toes, snub-toes or box-toes, high 
heels or low heels, broad heels or topple heels, his vas- 
sals hasten to obey him. Convenience and comfort are 
of less concern than obedience to this master. 

Illustrations of this subject are more numerous 
among the ladies than among gentlemen. Not a few 
of them are fashion worshipers ; and, it has been said, 
have sacrificed their lives to this idol. It is supposed 



FASHION. 25 

that the expression, "One may as well be out of the 
world as out of fashion," originated with this better 
half of our race. Be that as it may, not a few of them 
are so lacking in courage and individuality, that they 
dare not disobey the mandates of King Fashion. If 
he orders what one lad} T called a " little skimmer" of a 
bonnet, they have been ready to lay one on the top or 
on the, back of the head ; or to adopt the vegetable style, 
as the cabbage leaf or turn-up form. It is really funny 
to watch the ingenuity of ladies, in contriving some- 
thing new in their decorations, and how they seem to 
vie with one another in decorating the head for public 
observation and fashion's sake. 

If this tyrant orders the ladies to make a brush of a 
long dress, and to sweep the dusty or the muddy street ; 
however disagreeable it may be to them, they obey him. 
At his bidding, the ladies do not hesitate to set them- 
selves u]) on high and small-heeled shoes, which give 
them a toppling gait, inclining them forward from a 
perpendicular, and almost compelling them to assume 
uncouth postures. All fashion worshipers are fond of 
notice, when it is complimentary to their idols. He 
binds his votaries with heavy chains, in which they 
fancy sweet music. 

Oli, fickle fashion! what's the use 
Of making such a constanl fuss? 
'Cause we dare not disobey, 

All his abject servants say; 

And last as well be out of creation, 
a^> disobey this tyrant Fashion. 



26 DEAD AND LIVING PRAYERS. 

DEAD AND LIVING PRAYERS. 

It is stated, on good authority, that "nearly two mil- 
lions, annually, of letters forwarded through the various 
post-offices of the country, fail to find the person to 
whom they are directed, and go to the dead letter office 
at Washington." The expense of writing and forward- 
ing these letters seems to be lost, and the letters useless, 
because dead. Now, the fate of these letters has* sug- 
gested a reason why so many prayers, annually offered, 
amounting, no doubt, to many millions, seem never to 
reach the mercy-seat, and bring not the blessings 
sought. They are property denominated dead pra}-ers. 
Dead, because they came from the lips merely, and not 
from the heart ; or from a heart without any spiritual 
life in it ; did not live in the soul before they were 
uttered, and were, therefore, still-born. A great many 
of these harangues, called prayers, it is feared, are 
scarcely more than lazy wishes, or asking for things 
not much desired, nor sought for b} r any appropriate 
labor. They are dead, because not followed up by 
corresponding efforts ; as the prayers of the husband- 
man for a harvest will be dead, if the soil is not pre- 
pared, seed sown, and other necessary means used to 
secure the crop. So prayers for the outpouring of the 
Spirit, a revival of religion and the conversion of sin- 
ners. If the necessary efforts are withheld on the 
part of the church, all are rejected and turned away, 
like the letters sent to the dead letter office. They 
may be dead because misdirected, or not offered in the 
name of Christ, or without true faith in him. Except 
they have a stamp on them, in His name, as Mediator, 



DEAD AND LIVING PRAYERS. 27 

they surely fail of going to the place of their destina- 
tion. So, also, if not attended by the intercession of 
the Spirit ; " for the Spirit itself maketh intercession 
for us, with groanings which cannot be uttered ;" or ex- 
cites desires too strong for language, and are better 
expressed b}^ a sigh or a groan. 

God will not regard prayer unless it is attended by 
a holy earnestness of soul which gives it life. Earn- 
estness of voice or of the lungs merely, may be of 
some account with men, but God's ear is ever open to 
the earnest whisper of the believing soul. Prayers are 
often dead, because offered from some selfish motive, 
or prompted by some personal favor, and not by a de- 
sire that God may be glorified. Sometimes they are 
dead for want of union and agreement among the peti- 
tioners. It may be as to the time, place or manner of 
bestowing upon the church the blessings asked. What 
a waste of words in discordant petitions, for there is 
no spiritual life in them. 

Dead prayers fail in perseverance. The hypocrite 
will not always, or habitually, call upon God. He 
may sometimes, in a season of distress, but when the 
distress is over, his lifeless petitions will cease. Jacob's 
perseverance till he obtained the blessing, proved that 
his was a living petition. But we need not dwell upon 
the characteristics of dead prayers. It is no marvel 
that such petitions Tail of acceptance with God ; coming 
from a heart without spiritual life, without being at- 
tended by suitable efforts, offered without faith in 

Christ, and without the aid of the Spirit, prompted by 

wrong motives, without union among the petitioners, 

and without per>e\ rranee. How many millions of sueh 



28 . THE HEART AND TONGUE. 

prayers, failing in some one or in all these points, an- 
nually go to the place of dead prayers. It is easy to 
account for the withholding of those blessings for which 
such prayers are offered. It is in perfect keeping with 
the promises of God. What constitutes living prayer, 
will be readily inferred from what has thus far been 
stated. 

The fault and the failure of these prayers which God 
does not accept, rests entirely with those who offer 
them. Lamentable indeed, is it, that so many thou- 
sands, and even millions, of pra} r ers, annually offered, 
in the closet, at the family altar, in the social circle, 
and in the house of God, seem to be in vain. These 
places of prayer, and the comparative fewness of the 
blessings received, testify to the inefficiency and dead- 
ness of many offerings to God. Those who pray should 
study to know the specific cause of their failures, and 
apply the remedy, lest millions more of their offerings 
be consigned to the place of dead and vain oblations. 



* James iii: 8. 



THE HEART AND TONGUE. 

One Mr. Tongue, 

Of much renown, 
Who lived at large 

In Tattletown, 
Was mischief full, 

And wicked, too, 
As all could tell, 

If Tongue they knew. 

The statute brought, 
The charge was plain, 

That Tongue was full 
Of deadly bane.* 



THE HEART AND TONGUE. 29 

Tongue then was seized 

And brought to court, 
Pleading himself 

The impending suit : 

'Tis neighbor Heart, 

Plead Mr. Tongue, 
Who leads me into 

So much wrong. f 
I should be good 

As neighbors are — 
As Mr. Nose, 

Or Eye, or Ear — 
If neighbor Heart, 

Who lives below, 
Were changed by grace 

Or made anew. 
'Tis very hard 

To bear the wrong, 
Of neighbor Heart, 

Said Mr. Tongue. 

This plea is sound 

Of Mr. Tongue, 
Jurors and Judge 

Said, all as one. 
While neighbor Heart 

Is all so wrong, 
No good, they said, 

Could come from Tongue. 

The court decide, 

As the best good, 
To renovate 

The neighborhood ; 
That Mr. Heart 

Musi be r< nevoed, 

Or never Tongue 
Can be subdued. 



t Matt xv : 19. 



30 FAITH AND UNBELIEF. 

FAITH AND UNBELIEF. 

These are ruling principles, but they are antagonistic 
— never agree together — never dwell together in the 
same mind without controversy. The one that gets the 
upper hand rules with a potent influence. To illustrate 
this by the different views taken of a familiar question. 
What hinders the more abundant enjojmient of revivals 
in our churches, the outpouring of the Spirit and the 
conversion of sinners? Unbelief says, the times and 
circumstances are not favorable, and such a blessing is 
not to be expected, with so mairv obstacles in the way. 
Political excitement, newspaper controversy ; a press- 
ure of worldly cares, and worldty pleasures, divert the 
public mind, and we must wait for a more convenient 
season. But Faith says, there is no need of delay, for 
God is ready to bless all who take hold and hold on to 
his promises, doing their duty, waiting upon him by 
humble prayer, all wakeful and working. 

Unbelief says, the membership of the churches are 
in such a depressed state of coldness and indifference, 
that we could hardly get a vote to have a revival now, 
if it should be attempted, and it would be of no use to 
try. Faith says, put away indifference, cast off the 
mantle of sloth, and fall to work in the vine} T ard of 
Christ, and soon you will get warmed. The sluggish 
pulse would' be quickened, vigor diffused through the 
whole body, and spiritual health and prosperity prevail 
in the church. But Unbelief says, we can do noth- 
ing without the Holy Spirit, and sits down to wait for 
it ; and that sinners are so hardened in transgression, 
by long resisting the claims of the Gospel, that all its 



FAITH AND UNBELIEF. 31 

force, in the shape of calls, warnings, invitations and 
promises, seem to be spent upon them in vain. Faith 
understands all this, but instead of idly waiting for the 
Spirit, is on her feet hard at work and praying for the 
bestowment of the blessing. 

Where is Faith? Is she dwelling and ruling among 
the professed followers of Christ in our churches, or 
are they governed b} r Unbelief ? The unbelieving 
church says, our pastor is dull, and don't preach rous- 
ing revival sermons ; and we cannot expect to see souls 
converted till there is more unction and power in his 
preaching. Faith says, stay up the hands of }xmr 
pastor, by jour hearty co-operation and your prayers, 
and he will preach a great deal better for it. The un- 
believing pastor says, if my church would all wake up 
to their duty, pray and labor as they ought, we should 
soon have a rich spiritual refreshing ; but it is of no 
use to make much effort while the church are all slum- 
bering. The pastor full of faith says it is of use, and 
T will preach with all my power, and continue to do all 
I can while life lasts, trusting in God for a blessing. 

Thus it is, the unbelieving church casts the responsi- 
bility upon the pastor, and then the unbelieving pastor 
rolls it back upon the church; instead of all joining 
heart and hand in their appropriate duties. His duty 
is to hold, keep upright and manage the Gospel plow ; 
but he needs the whole team of the ehureh to haul it, 
in order to break up the Callow ground of the heart and 

prepare lor the sowing and the harvest. 

Unbelief, then, is the great, perhaps the greatest, 

hindrance to the conversion of sinners and to the pro 



32 the robin's visit. 

perity of a church ; inasmuch as it leads to a neglect of 
the means which G-od has appointed as necessary to 
secure His blessing. He is ever ready to help those 
who faithfully labor to help themselves, in humble re- 
liance upon His aid. How appropriate the prayer, — 
" Lord, increase our faith " ; increase our activities and 
our love to souls. Let us pray believing, work hoping, 
unitedly and persevering^. With peremptory decision, 
let us say, begone unbelief, begone sloth, begone pro- 
crastination of duty ; stand by, worldly cares, and keep 
your proper place ; get out of the wa}^, all obstacles 
that hinder the outpouring of the Spirit, the conversion 
of sinners, and the growth and fruitfulness of our 
churches. May our faith be strong, our zeal and love 
for souls kindled to a holy flame ; and, taking hold on 
the promises, and fulfilling their conditions, God will 
give His blessing. Let us believe it, pray for it, labor 
for it, do our every duty, and we shall not be disap- 
pointed. 

o 

THE KOBIN'S VISIT, 

AND DIALOGUE WITH A CANARY BIRD IN HER CAGE. 



Robin — I would n't be a caged bird, 
Such bondage do I scorn ; 
To sing for nothing but my bread, 
At ev'ning and at morn. 

Canary — I am happy here as I can be, 
I know no better home ; 
I would n't be a bird like you, 
The fields and woods to roam. 



the robin's visit. 33 

Robin— Oh ! what a set of ign'rant birds 
All you canaries are, 
Pent up for life within your cage, 
While we live free as air. 

Canary — I've water, seeds, and other things, 
Which sure are very good ; 
I never eat such filthy worms 
As you receive for food. 

Robin — But you're an abject slave, shut up 
Within this cage of wire, 
While I am free to use my wings 
In sailing through the air. 

Canary — But here I have a pretty nest, 
Nicer than you can match, 
And in it, two sweet little eggs, 
Which soon I hope to hatch. 

Robin — But when your little ones are born, 
Pris'ners like you they'll be ; 
Nor joyous freedom ever know, 
Flying from tree to tree. 

Canary — I must confess my anxious wish 
For freedom such as thine; 
I know not why I should be cag'd, 
Since never charged with crime. 

Robin — I'd rather never be a bird, 
If I could not be free ; 
If I must live and die like you, 
And know no liberty. 

Canary — Do slay, dear Robin — come again; 

More lessons give to mi* ; 

Oh [-.going so soon, dear friend — 
Good-by, good-by to thee. 



34 CUT OFF THE RUNNERS. 

CUT OFF THE RUNNERS. 

While passing by a garden, we saw some promising 
strawberry vines. We said to the gardener, who was 
at work among the beds, the strawberry is an ex- 
cellent fruit, and with suitable soil and culture, to- 
gether with sunshine and showers, which God gives, 
you may expect a good crop. " Yes," replied the 
gardener ; "yet one thing more is necessary." "What 
is that?" " You must cut off the runners ; for they 
absorb a large portion of the nutriment from mother 
earth, which is needed to promote the growth of the 
fruit." From this, we thought, that professed Chris- 
tians may deduce a valuable lesson. These runners 
aptly represent worldly cares, which, if allowed to 
grow beyond a certain limit, so absorb the virtues of 
piety, as greatly to diminish its fruits. Like straw- 
berry runners, one leads this way, and another that, 
and a third, yet another way ; and thereby so great a 
proportion of that spiritual nourishment which God 
has prepared for his people, is absorbed by these run- 
ners, that the fruits of piety are rendered dwarfish and 
unripe, like the small, green strawberries, and the 
garden of the Great Master fails in fruitfulness. The 
Christian, thorefore, has occasion to watch ; and when 
he sees the runners pushing out in one direction or 
another, and interfering with the fruits of obedience to 
Christ, to apply the knife of resolution promptly, that 
by a seasonable excision, the fruits of holiness may 
not fail to become ripe in the soul of the believer in 
Jesus Christ. 



WANTS OF THE PROFESSED CHRISTIAN. 35 

WANTS OF THE PROFESSED CHRISTIAN. 

They are very many. One thing I want is, a full 
proof of union to Christ, or to be certain that I am a 
true Christian. I hope I am, but I want a brighter 
hope. I think I have some true faith ; but I want a 
stronger faith. I think I have some true love to Jesus, 
but I want a more ardent love. I think I love his 
people, but I want to love them more ; and I want 
some of them to make themselves more lovable. 

I think I love his commands and his service, but I 
want more proof of it in myself, and to give more 
proof to others. But these are only the beginning of 
my wants, as a professed follower of Jesus. I must 
go on. I want to maintain, habitually, a spirit of 
earnest, humble prayer. I think I have some of this, 
but I want a larger measure of it ; more intimate com- 
munion with Jesus ; or to wrestle with the Angel of 
the Covenant, as did Jacob, and prevail. 

I want the witness of the Spirit that I am a true 
child of God. I think and hope I am ; but I want to 
be more childlike, to put off the old man entirely, and 
to put on the new man wholly, which, after God, is 
created in righteousness and true holiness. 

I want to be useful in the service of Christ, and to 
see his kingdom on earth rising more and more in 
dignity and power, and extended through the wide 
world. I want to see a competent number of mission- 
aries, home and foreign, employed as reapers in the 
great field, which is waving with a ripe and plentiful 
harvest. I want to see his " kingdom come and his 
will be done on earth as it is in heaven." 



36 WANTS OF THE PROFESSED CHRISTIAN. 

I want Jesus to reign, habitually, in my heart, and 
the Holy Comforter to dwell there, as m}* guide in 
truth and duty ; and to have that unction in prayer 
which he gives, and to realize that he is ever present 
with me. I know he is. but I want the habitual reali- 
zation of it. I want abiding proof that m} T sins are 
all pardoned and my soul purified from their pollution 
in Jesus' blood. 

Xow, is there any way open to meet these wants? 
Yes, indeed, there is. Jesus has opened a fountain 
inexhaustible. He has promised that all who suitably 
apply to him shall be supplied and satisfied. But a 
sense of want still oppresses me. My soul hungers 
and thirsts for his grace. I want to be clad in the 
robe of Christ's righteousness, with not a rag of self- 
righteousness about me. 

I want to feel as did the converted heathen girl, 
when she had come to Jesus : " He has taken away all 
my badness and given me all his goodness." I want 
to live in full and habitual preparation for heaven, and 
to sit down eventually with all the redeemed at the 
great marriage supper of the Lamb ; and to join with 
heart and harp and voice in the new song with the 
multitudes of the redeemed before the eternal throne. 

Does the reader sympathize with me in these wants, 
and believe that Jesus is able and willing to supply 
them? Can you say, 3-es, yes, I do? Then let us 
praise him together with our whole hearts. Oh. what 
a friend he is ! There is none like him. None so 
good, so benevolent, so kind, so lovely and so loving, 
so able and willing to supplj' all our wants. Blessed 
is the man that trusteth in him, for bis wants will be 



THE NEW YEAR. 37 

all supplied. " The young lions do lack and suffer 
hunger, but (hey that seek the Lord shall not want any- 
good thing." Here I rest, and sweet peace permeates 
my soul. Jesus is my all. He is mine, and I am his ; 
his only, his wholly, and would be his forever. Give 
me but a full testimony of this, and my wants are all 
supplied. When the heavenly rest is gained, these 
wants will be met by every good desired, and the sat- 
isfaction will be complete, and endure forever. 



THE NEW YEAR. 

The old year has passed away like a river lost in the 
great ocean of time ; and the new year has just begun 
the same course. A year ! What is it? It is a period 
of time measured out by one revolution of the earth 
asound the sun. 

Astronomers inform us that the sun is the center of 
our system, and that the planets, at different distances 
and at stated times, revolve around it. The planet on 
which we live is said to be about 95,000,000 miles from 
the sun ; and, although it flies in its orbit at the rate 
of G8,000 miles an hour, it makes its ciruuit around 
the sun but just once a year. Thereby the Creator 
measures out the years with great exactness. 

The year is divided into twelve parts culled months ; 
and to measure out the months, the Creator has ap- 
pointed the moon to travel in its orbit around the 
earth. Moreover, the Creator has divided the months 
into weeks, by appointing every seventh day as a rest 
from secular toils; and for spiritual worship, lie has 



38 THE NEW TEAR. 

divided the weeks into days, and commissioned the 
earth itself to measure out the days, by revolving on 
its own axis. 

Thus the Great Creator of all things has sub-divided 
time, and measured it out with great precision ; ap- 
pointing the heavenly bodies as our time-keepers, so 
that we may regard them as so many wheels in the 
great time-piece of wonderful mechanism, to measure 
out the months and years of our lives. 

Although these orbs have been revolving with mar- 
velous velocity for countless years, neither age nor 
friction has wasted a particle of their substance — no 
obstacle has obstructed nor misdirected their course ; 
nor accelerated nor retarded their velocity. The Al- 
mighty and immutable hand that created them, and 
gave them their first motion, keeps them in motion still. 

By this great clock-like machinery of the heavens, 
the years of millions of our race have been already 
measured out to their end, and they have entered upon 
their endless state of being. By the order of the same 
Almighty Ruler, our probation is, in like manner, being 
measured out, and bearing us on to a strict and solemn 
reckoning. It is this that makes the season of our 
probation one of vast responsibility, "For whatso- 
ever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Let it 
be kept in mind, that every day adds a new chapter to 
the volume of life's history. If the record of the past 
year, on a review, awakens a sense of guilt and shame, 
then, prostrate at the foot of the cross, we may look 
up to Jesus Christ for pardon ; and beseech Him to 
give us grace and strength to do better in the future. 



THE LIQUOR LAW OF MAINE. 39 

The New Year begins a new chapter in life's history. 
The pages are now blank for a daily record. The wise 
will guard against blotting them with sins ; and strive 
to fill them with deeds of righteousness. This year 
will be measured out like the past, by the great time- 
piece of the heavens ; and it will swiftly glide away : 

" The moments fly — a minute gone ! 
The minute flies — an hour is run ! 
The day is fled — the night is here ! 
Thus fly the weeks, the month, the year ! " 
o - 

THE LIQUOR LAW OF MAINE. 

[This was written after some months' experience of the benefits of the 
celebrated "Maine Law."] 

The Law ! the Law ! the Law ! 

The liquor law of Maine ! 
The drunkard-maker's hate, 

The tippler's special gain. 

The liquor-seller says, 

The law is cruel bad ; 
It takes away his gains, 

And makes him dreadful mad ; 

Forbids the use, at all, 

Of e'er so small a part, 
Excepting for the sick, 

Or some mechanic art. 

But more than this it does : 

It searches all about 
His store and premises ; 

And drags the liquor out. 

The liquor then it takes, 

And pours into the drain; 
So now the poison (lows 

Where once it cast poor men. 



40 THE LIQUOR LAW OF MAINE. 

The liquor-seller acids, 

He thinks, that sure as rates, 

This law is right agaiust 
The Compact of the States. 

But reason right replies. 
In words and logic bold : 

The law most sure sustains 
Our Constitution old. 

Mere playthings former laws 
'Gainst drunkenness have been, 

Compared with this late Act, 
Pass'd in the Halls of Maine. 

The drunkard-maker's purse, 
And conscience (all the same), 

Are made to feel the screw 
Of fines imposed on him. 

It hits upon the head. 

And clenches fast the nail ; 
Makes dealers cease to sell, 

Or sends them off to jail. 

Old Billy Toper says, 
This law, he thinks, a sin, 

Because his liberty 

Is lost, for quaffing gin. 

Poor Bill : he's almost gone 
Down to the drunkard's grave ; 

But still there's yet some hope, 
It may such lost ones save. 

This law works charmingly, 
Gains favor every day 

In Maine, and other States, 
The Granite and the Bay. 



COMMUNION WITH GOD. 41 

Three cheers to Mayor Dow, 

The Leader of the van, 
Who put the law in force, 

To bless his fellow-man. 

Our grateful praise to Him 

Who ruleth all things well, 
For this successful war 

Against King Alcohol. 



COMMUNION WITH GOD. 

Communion with God is a delightful and holy inti- 
macy with Him — a realization of his presence and his 
Spirit conversing with my spirit, and a sweet medita- 
tion on his mercy and loving kindness. In commun- 
ion with Him he allows me to sit in the light of 
his countenance, and to walk with him as did Enoch 
and Noah ; and to see the superlative excellence and 
beauty of his character. Moses had special commun- 
ion with God above the mercy T -seat between the cheru- 
bim, which were upon the ark ; and every true believer 
in Jesus, is allowed the high privilege of like intimacy 
with him. 

There is communion with Him in a humble confession 
of sin, and in pleading for forgiveness, for Jesus' sake. 
My faith extends a hand, and He takes hold of it with 
a loving smile; and greets me as a penitent forgiven, 
and then I feel that I am restored to His favor; and 
peace and joy permeate my soul. EJe assures me that 
I am pardoned, without money and without price; sole- 
ly for his Christ's sake; without my deservings or 



42 COMMUNION WITH GOD. 

merit in my doings ; when I cast myself with a peni- 
tent heart at His feet. Then I rejoice in Him with my 
whole heart in view of his pardoning mercy. My soul 
is filled with wonder, peace, hope and joy, and I can 
say "I know that my Redeemer livethV and "whom 
have I in Heaven but Thee, and there is none upon the 
earth I desire besides Thee. ,, 

He allows me communion with him in trials and dis- 
appointments ; and when assailed by temptations. Then 
I apply to him to support or to deliver me, and he 
grants it. He gives me strength to bear what trials he 
does not see fit to remove. If it be a thorn in the flesh, 
He says, "my grace is sufficient for thee." Thus he 
makes me happy and joyful, even in tribulation 
and suffering. If assailed by the temptations of the 
adversary, He teaches me to say "get thee behind 
me, Satan," and this enemy departs. To guard against 
renewed assaults, He tells me to bear on my arm the 
shield of faith, which will repel his fiery darts and pre- 
serve me from harm. Then I am greatly comforted, 
that Jesus is with and cares for me, and makes me 
more than a conqueror. 

He affords me communion with him in time of afflic- 
tion and bereavement of kindred. Then I lean upon 
His arm and He buoys me up, when ready to sink in 
the deep and bitter waters of affliction ; and his soft 
hand wipes away my tears. He reminds me that he 
does not afflict willingly, but necessarily for my good ; 
and I know he is right, and I can saj-, "Thy will be 
done." Then in a soft whisper, He says peace and 
comfort to thee, troubled soul, and all is well. 



COMMUNION WITH GOD. 43 

When I come to the Sacramental table, it is to hold 
communion with Him, as the great Author and Master 
of the feast. There my faith looks up to Him who 
died on Calvary. Then my gratitude is excited toward 
Him in abundant measure ; and my soul is filled with 
the fulness of his love. I rind that the hosts of all 
this communion with him is faith and love, which he 
has planted within me by his grace, and that I have a 
oneness of Spirit with my God and Savior ; He dwell- 
ing in me and I in him. 

But sometimes a dark cloud shuts down upon my 
horizon and I walk in twilight, and my communion is 
cut off. Then peace forsakes me, comforts are fled and 
hope almost expires. Then I find that it is my disobe- 
dience, or some besetting sin, that has done this mis- 
chief to my soul. I lament it — I hate it — I renounce it, 
and beseech him to take it away. Then he grants me 
a fresh pardon, fresh peace, fresh joy, and my com- 
munion with him is renewed. Then my hope, like a 
bbw in the cloud over my head, is bright ; and a pledge 
of the promise, "Be thou faithful unto death and I will 
give thee a crown of 1 i f e . ' ' He wishes me to make 
this promise in}' own ; and my faith takes hold of it ; 
and then I rejoice again, and feel a precious nearness 
to him, so that I can touch the hem of His garment, 
and am made whole. Nearness to him, and an abiding 
sense of his presence, makes communion with him 
sweet and refreshing to my soul, as the morning dew 
upon a tender plant. 

Give me but this and my soul is satisfied, and my 
peace and joy are like a perennial spring. Sueh are 
some of the blessed fruits in this life, of communion 



44 WHAT WE OWE TO CHRIST. 

with ra} T God and Savior ; and which give a sweet fore- 
taste of heaven, and some prclibations of the waters of 
eternal life. There union and communion will be per- 
fected. There I shall see Jesus as he is, in all his ex- 
cellence and glory — there be like him — be with him — 
and wear a robe of richest beauty, washed and made 
white in his blood ; and then join, with heart, and harp, 

and voice, in the new Song "Blessing, and honor, 

and glory, and power be unto Him who sitteth upon the 
throne, and unto the lamb forever and ever." 



WHAT WE OWE TO CHRIST. 

The memory of Christ is precious. He is our best 
friend, and it is better to forget all other friends than 
to forget him. He is more worthy than all others ; 
has manifested more love to us, and has done more for 
us, than all other friends have done or could do. It is 
better that we should cease to love all other friends, 
however dear, than cease to love him. His claim is 
above that of all others. One poor heart like mine is 
not large enough to love Him all he deserves, for what 
he has done for me. Yea, ten thousand hearts, all full 
of love supreme, would not pay the debt of love I owe 
to Him. One tongue is not enough to speak His praise 
for what he has done for me. Oh ! had I a thousand 
tongues, that could speak all at once, I could not praise 
Him enough. 

The longest life on earth is too short to estimate his 
love, and to sum up all the gratitude I owe him. It 
will require all the hearts and tongues and voices of 



TEMPERANCE HARROW. 45 

the redeemed eternal ages ; together with angels, cher- 
ubim and seraphim, and all the holy beings in the 
universe, to express the praise deserved for his match- 
less worth. Hence, while I live, it shall be my earnest 
endeavor, to love, to praise, to obey, and to honor him 
supremely ; that when I die I may be with him, to 
behold him in all His glory ; and love, praise, enjoy, 
and reign with him forever. 



TEMPERANCE HARROW. 

" Joe, yoke the team," said Farmer Snug, 
"And chain tliem to the harrow ; 

And yonder in the granite field, 
Go scratch and make it mellow." 

Away drives Joe — " Gee up old star, 
And you, old buck, good fellow "; 

Among the rocks and stumps he drove, 
To scratch and make it mellow. 

But soon the rocks and stumps resist, 

And overturn the harrow; 
Teeth sometimes up, and sometimes down, 

Would never make it mellow. 

So, Fanner Snag, to txtun his point — 

A shrewd, contriving fellow 
Like neighbor Smith, said he, can make 

Improvements on this harrow. 

Then Smith forged teeth, which stood erect. 

Straight up, upon the harrow ; 
No matter then which Bide was down 

To scratch the ground so fallow. 



46 DR. LYMAN BEECHER. 

So, former temperance laws of Maine, 
Were like Suug's siugle harrow ; 

Which clods and rocks and stumps upset, 
And left the ground still fallow. 

The present law has double teeth, 
Just like Snug's double harrow ; 

And if applied through all the States, 
Would do the work most thorough. 

The thousand rockish, stump-like shops 
And stores, for vending sorrow ; 

Forthwith would sure be overturned 
By this great temperance harrow. 

Then, seeds of temperance springing up, 
Would grow quite rank to-morrow ; 

And neighbor Smith w T ould surely have 
Eich premiums for his harrow. 



DR. LYMAN BEECHER. 

With a deep interest I remember an interview I had 
with this venerable minister of Christ, at Prof. Stowe's 
in Andover, a few years since, at the time of the anni- 
versary of the Theological Seminary. I was alone with 
him, and in conversation speaking of his long life of 
toils and trials in the work of the ministry, I asked 
him if be would like to begin "clenovo" and live over 
his life again. His prompt reply was, "Yes ; if God 
should give me the offer, I think I should accept it ; for 
my experience has been worth a great deal to me." 
"But," said I, "Doctor, how would ) t ou like to live your 
life over again without your experience?" "Ah I" said 
the Doctor, "that wouldn't be me." 



UBIQUITY OF CHRIST. 47 

UBIQUITY OF CHRIST. 

One of the very striking attributes of Christ, is his 
ubiquity. He claimed it, when he promised his disci- 
ples to be always with them ; and when he said, 
44 Where two or three are gathered together in my 
name, there am I in the midst of them." His true 
disciples now have evidence of this, from their own 
experience. Not that he is personally present, but 
spiritually with them, shedding abroad his love in their 
hearts, inspiring in them faith and hope, and giving 
them some foretaste of heavenly joys. Notwithstand- 
ing this attribute is above our comprehension, and 
marvelous, it is to them a reality. There are multi- 
tudes of closets, daily visited, to hold communion with 
hirn b} T prayer ; and Jesus is present in every one of 
them, to pardon the penitent, to replenish the believing 
soul with peace, and to nourish it abundantly by his 
grace. He is there to read the heart — the thoughts, 
the motives and all the purp ses of the inward man. 
If there is any evil there, he knows it; if good, he 
knows it. To deceive him in the least is impossible. 
There are thousands of family altars, scattered over 
the field where the light of the Gospel shines — some 
far remote from others — but they are all under his eye 
at the same moment ; and he is present with special 
blessings for every family who thus honor him, and his 
ear is open to every word of prayer. 

There are numerous missionaries in different and 
distant parts of the world, toiling to dissipate the 
darkness of heathenism; to introduce in its stead the 
light of the Gospel, and thus extend his kingdom. 



48 LIGHT 

He is with every one of them, to strengthen, encourage 
and comfort them in their labors and trials, and give 
them success. There is a little company of these ser- 
vants in Greenland, another in Ceylon, Hindoostan, in 
Persia, Palestine, Turkey, China, Africa, and the is- 
lands of the sea. Yet, Jesus is with them ail at the 
same moment, never leaving nor forsaking those who 
suitably trust in him. 

Moreover, when his disciples meet at the sacramental 
table, though there may be thousands of them spread, 
at the same time, far distant from each other, yet 
Jesus is always present at each of them, to inspect the 
character of every guest, and to know who has, and 
who has not on, the wedding garment. All his true 
disciples are very dear to him, and he to them, and 
they are truly happy when they realize his gracious 
presence, and their union to him by faith and love. 
His presence fills the universe ! Oh ! what a Jesus 
he is ! His ubiquity is marvelous, wonderful, and with 
it are united in him all the attributes of the God-head. 
Well may every believing soul rejoice in him, and join 
with the psalmist, saying : "Whom have we in heaven 
but thee, and there is none upon the earth we desire 
besides thee." 



LIGHT. 

A boy about four years old, while being questioned 
on his Sabbath school lesson in the first chapter of 
Genesis, was asked by his teacher, What was the" first 
thing God created? Speaking with much confidence 



LIGHT. 49 

and promptness, he replied : " Light, of course, so 
that he couid see to create the other things " — a very' 
striking reply for one so 3'oung. 

Light is one of the wonderful objects of God's 
creating, and is diffused over all space, where it is not 
excluded by impassable obstructions. Philosophers tell 
us that light is invisible, because it is transparent ; and 
yet it is necessary to make objects visible to our sight, 
and to develop the harmony and beauty of the Creator's 
works. It extends immense distances from the sun 
and other heavenly bodies, in pencils or rays, always 
in straight lines, and moves at the velocity of 192,000 
miles a second. 

The properties of light are very striking. It cannot 
be measured, for it fills illimitable space ; nor can it be 
weighed, not moving the scale when suddenly falling 
upon it. We cannot taste, hear or smell it ; yet it is 
indispensable to the well-being of everything that has 
eyes and life. Were the light of the sun extinguished, 
all vegetable and animal life would quickly expire. It 
is remarkable for its purity ; and while the air is often 
polluted by noxious gases, arising from putrefactions, 
disease and stagnant pools, light is never contaminated 
by shining upon disease and pollution. Light is very 
remarkable for its pleasantness. While the atmos- 
phere is often rough and disastrous in its movements, 
causing the sea to dash furiously upon the rocks and 
shore, and burying the mariner and his ship in the 
deep, or sweeping a tornado over the land, leaving ruin 
behind in its course, — light 18 always pleasant in its 
effects wherever it shines. In the 4 midst, of darkm 
and tempest, the distressed mariner hails with joy the 
7 



50 LIGHT. 

sight of the lighthouse upon the shore, the light of the 
sun, or even a star to guide him to a secure haven. 

The usefulness of light cannot be easily estimated. 
Without it, eyes would be useless ; also, books and all 
reading matter, excepting what is prepared for the use 
of the blind ; and all the beauties of nature and art 
would afford no pleasure or instruction to mankind. 
Like water, its abundance is so great that no class of 
fellow-beings can monopolize it, nor hinder its general 
diffusiveness among the rich and the poor. It is also 
very cheap, and always ready by da\' to illuminate 
every dwelling or church, which does not exclude it by 
stained glass, and substitute twilight or gaslight in its 
place. It is just as free to the poor as to the rich, and 
of inestimable value to all. Light is, moreover, very 
remarkable for its composition of seven different col- 
ors, as represented in the rainbow. When these are 
blended together, the composition is white, and nothing 
is whiter than light. 

In its action it is marvelous. Composed, as philos- 
ophers say, of exceedingly small particles, it pene- 
trates the hardest transparent substances, such as glass 
and the diamond, and so delicately does it penetrate 
the pupil of the eye, as to give pleasure rather than 
pain. Hence the wise man said : " Light is sweet, and 
a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." 
Its effect upon plants, flowers and all vegetable life is 
marvelous, giving them their color and painting them 
with hues of every shade, and crowning all nature with 
beauty and loveliness. " Light is only the shadow of 
God," said Plato. 



THANKSGIVING. 51 

THANKSGIVING. 

Old Father Thanksgiving 

Has come to our door; 
And knocked for admittance, 

As oft-times before. 
We bid him a welcome, 

Right glad that we can, 
For all think Thanksgiving 

A clever old max. 

The children all love him, 

Wherever he goes ; 
And wish he'd come oft'ner 

By half, than he does. 
The youth always greet him, 

With hearty good cheer ; # 
And glad would receive him 

Five times in a year. 

Choice sweet-meats of pleasure, 

And lots of good things, 
Most young people think, 

This kind old man brings. 
Good Father Thanksgiving, 

Do tell us your age, 
The place of your birth, 

And your parentage. 

It was dear New England, 
The best spot on earth ; 
The land of the Pilgrims, 

That gave me my birth. 
The years of my Living 

Id this land have been 

One hundred eighty-one, 
And three-score ami ten. 



52 THANKSGIVING, 



The town was old Plymouth, 

In the old Bay State, 
My ancestors, Pilgrims, 

Whom tyrants all hate. 
'Twas fell Persecution, 

With his cruel rod, 
Who forbid them their choice, 

In worshiping God ; 

And drove them for freedom 

To this distant place, 
Where God has much blessed them, 

With riches and grace. 
Because so much prospered 

On free soil living, 
They appointed a day 

For public Thanksgiving. 

But seeds of oppression 

Were sown in our soil ; 
And bondmen for life-time, 

Were doomed to hard toil ; 
Till the cry reached to heaven, 

From millions oppressed ; 
While their chains were not loos'd 

And their wrongs not redress'd. 

Then Rebel secession 

Engendered the strife, 
That cost a vast treasure, 

Of money and life ; 
A marvel to nations, 

A nation we are ; 
Our glory was tarnished 

By internal war. 

Though bitter the conflict, 

The contest did cease ; 
The Rebels all beaten, 

Were glad to have peace. 



A FABLE. 53 



The Stars and the Stripes 

Are again unfurled 
Over every State, 

In view of the world. 

The prospect has brighten'd 

On every hand ; 
And peans of peace 

Now resound through the land. 
Let us then praise the Lord, 

In joyful thanksgiving, 
And henceforth our lives 

Be spent in thanks-living. 

The first Thanksgiving held in New England waa on board the May 
Flower, in Cape Cod harbor, Nov. 11, 1620, the day after the arrival of the 
Pilgrims. On that day they devoutly returned thanks to Almighty God, for 
their deliverance from 'he perils of the sea, and for their safe arrival. 

The custom of appointing a day for annual Thanksgiving, originated 
eight years later, in 1628. 



A FABLE. 

A foolish fly, seeing a shining surface in a window, 
and wishing to test its sweetness, pitched down upon- 
it. heedless of all danger. But no sooner had he 
touched the surface, and attempted to walk, than he 
found himself stuck fast ; and the more he struggled 
to get awa}', the faster was he held. Mercy ! oh, 
mercy ! cried the poor fly ; what a fool I was to pitch 
into this trouble. Oh, help! help! brother fly, fori 
am in great tribulation. Come quickly, dear brother ! 
Down pitched a sympathizing friend to his aid. But 
he, too, was at onee last fixed in the same trouble. 
Then both Hies cried for help ; and down came Others 
to oiler relief, until a large company were alike caught ; 
so thai no one could help his brother fly, nor even ex- 
tricate him8elf OUt of trouble, and all perished together, 

victims of their own folk. 



54 FAMILIAKITY WITH THE SCRIPTURES, ETC. 

Application. These foolish flies represent many 
equally foolish and reckless men, who pitch into the 
vice of intemperance. By a process rather gradual, 
they begin by tasting cider, wine or beer ; and then 
other intoxicating liquors ; and ere long form an appe- 
tite, which becomes master of reason and resolution ; 
and deeper and deeper they sink into sottishness, until 
they perish like the fly and his companions. 

Thousands of poor inebriates, in our country, are 
now so reckless, besotted and stultified, that they have 
less than a fly's resolution to call for help, or to accept 
it when offered ; and, consequently perish, the victims 
of their own terrible appetite and folly. All these 
wretched saloons of temptation, aiding this work of de- 
struction, are as dangerous to those who patronize 
them, as fly-paper is to the* victims it destroys. 

" Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not 

Jn the way of evil men. Avoid it, turn from it, and 

pass away." 

o 

FAMILIARITY WITH THE SCRIPTURES IM- 
PORTANT TO THE PREACHER. 

[Andover Anniversary.] 

The preacher of the Gospel is a soldier of the Cross, 
and the Word of God is his armor. But, if he is un- 
skilled in its use, it will be as unprofitable to him as 
was the armor of Saul to David. The preacher may 
possess many other important qualifications, and yet, 
if he is not familiar with the truths of the Bible, he 
lacks an indispensable qualification for the sacred office. 
B}^ familiarity with the Scriptures, I mean, an intimate 
and correct exegetical, and an experimental acquaintance 



FAMILIARITY WITH THE SCRIPTURES, ETC. 55 

with all the doctrines and precepts of the Word of 
God. Such a familiarity tends to make an argument- 
ative preacher — not a metaphysical, but a biblical rea- 
soner, who is u mighty, through God, to the pulling 
down of the strongholds of error." 

AY he n Luther, by intense application, had made him- 
self familiar with a Latin Bible, which he providentially 
met with in the monastery ; he rushed forth in the 
strength of the Lord, and assailed the heresies of the 
Romish church with arguments which were irresistible, 
and which shook, to its very center, the papal throne. 
He gave " the Beast" an incurable wound. But, with 
any other weapon than the sword of the Spirit, he 
never could have given the mail-clad monster such a 
deadly thrust. 

It was Calvin's familiarity with the Scriptures, which 
enabled him to pour the light of truth into the minds 
of the ignorant ; and to expose the folly and bigotry of 
the papal church. 

Again : This familiarity with the Scriptures tends 
to make an evangelical preacher. The sum of all evan- 
gelical preaching is, a full and practical exhibition of 
all the doctrines of God's Word. Take St. Paul as an 
example. His pre-eminent usefulness as a preacher 
was owing, in a great measure, to his ripe learning ; and 
particularly to his thorough knowledge oi' the saered 
Scriptures. This enabled him to present divine truth 
in a clear, forcible and pungent manner. AW' never 

find him, like many preachers of later times, wandering 

into the fields of useless speculation, nor publishing 
the theories of men for the truth of God. 

President Edwards and Baxter, among others, were 



56 FAMILIARITY WITH THE SCRIPTURES, ETC. 

striking examples of evangelical and biblical preachers ; 
and it was their familiarity with the Scriptures that 
made them such. Their simple and searching exhibi- 
tion of the doctrines of the Gospel, made them like 
arrows to the hearts of hearers. Scriptural language 
seems to have flowed into the subjects which they pre- 
sented, with a spontaneous familiarity and aptness, so 
that the word dispensed by them, was u in demonstra- 
tion of the Spirit, and with power." 

Again : This familiarity with the Scriptures tends to 
make an instructive preacher. The Great Shepherd 
and Head of the church requires that his flock be fed ; 
otherwise they will not increase in stature and strength. 
The Gospel is the great store-house from which the 
preacher is to nourish the church. Whoever, therefore, 
attempts to instruct this body, should be "a scribe well 
instructed" in the truths of the Gospel; else Christ's 
flock will faint and famish and become spiritually lean 
under his charge. 

Again : This familiarity in question, tends to make a 
plain preacher ; that is, one who does not leave his 
hearers in doubt, when he has closed his discourse, as 
to the particular doctrines he intended to preach. But 
who can, like the apostle, use " great plainness of 
speech," and speak to the purpose, without being master 
of his subject, or without being familiar with what he 
should preach? As well might the mariner, without a 
knowledge of his chart and compass, think to guide 
himself and others in the proper course through the 
unknown ocean. If he does not keep close to the 
Bible ; if he is not familiar with it, and allows, himself 
to indulge in blind speculations ; he will be a blind 



FAMILIARITY WITH THE SCRIPTURES, ETC, 57 

preacher, and will envelop the minds of his hearers in 
appalling darkness about eternal things. 

This familiarity in question, tends also to make a 
direct preacher. Such a preacher aims at the heart and 
conscience of the hearer. The Bible he takes as a 
map of the human heart, from which he learns its true 
character. It exposes all its deceitfulness and desper- 
ate wickedness, as God sees it. It exposes and lays 
open its most hidden recesses ; familiarity with it, 
therefore, will prepare a preacher to probe deeply the 
hearts of his hearers. A direct preacher does not draw 
a bow, without intending to hit the mark. Does he 
want an arrow that will reach the sinner's heart? He 
takes it from the quiver of God's Word ; and when it 
is accompanied by the agency of the Holy Spirit, it is 
effectual in wounding the sinner with deep conviction 
of sin. Does he want oil to mollify and heal the 
wound? The Gospel points to Christ's blood, as the 
best, the only remedy. If the preacher, then, would 
have power over the minds of his hearers, like the 
apostle, he must be mighty in the Scriptures. This 
will render his preaching diiect, searching, powerful 
and effectual, under God, to the salvation of men. 

This familiarity with the Scriptures tends, moreover, 
to make a successful preacher. Though Paul may plant 
and Apollos water, the increase is all of God. Never- 
theless, the abundance and richness of the harvest, 
depends, to some extent, on sewing and watering well. 
Good seed is sometimes lost, bein^; scattered by un- 
skillful bands, If the sewer is ignorant of the nature 
of his seed, and heedless from what measure he takes it, 
and whether it is good seed or bad, he will be as likelj 
8 



58 FAMILIARITY WITH THE SCRIPT ORES, ETC. 

to sow tares as wheat ; and, if tares, the harvest will 
be tares, which are only fit to be burned. A full crop 
of pure grain cannot be expected, unless good seed is 
sown, and well sown. Human theories and speculations 
are the seed w T hich yield tares. The good seed is the 
Word of God, embracing the evangelical doctrines of 
the Gospel, from which the faithful sower may expect 
a harvest of joyful sheaves. 

Such are some of the happy effects of familiarity with 
the Scriptures,. on the part of the preacher. To search 
the divine record with great diligence and with prayer, 
carefully comparing scripture with scripture, and im- 
bibing large measures of its spirit, is very important to 
the preacher. . If he would be a persuasive, evangelical, 
instructive, plain, direct and successful preacher, let 
him put on the panoply of the Gospel. With what 
other armor can he, with any hope of success, con- 
tend against the wiles of the devil and of wicked 
men? Suppose he should assail them with sophistry 
and denunciations? This would ill become the holy 
cause, and be imitating the example of the papal 
church. The cause of Christ requires nothing but fair 
and honest dealings with men's hearts and consciences. 
So dealt the apostles in preaching the word. In their 
hands, the doctrines of the Gospel were often like 
arrows to the sinner's heart. Let, then, the professed 
ministers of Christ, have more of the apostolic famili- 
arity with the Bible, and they would have more of the 
apostolic unction and power in their preaching ; and 
more souls, through their instrumentality, would receive 
crowns of rejoicing in the great day of the Lord. 



DULL AND HARD TIMES. 59 

DULL AND HARD TIMES. 

Dullest times I've ever seen — 
What does all this dullness mean? 

Tell me, Joe, 

If you know, 

Why 'tis so. 
The reason why the sales are dull, 
Is because the market's full. 

Public wants are well supplied, 
Goods too much are multiplied. 

Well, says Joe, 

'Tis just so, 

As I know. 
More I'il tell you, if I must : 
Those who sell don't like to trust. 

Want of money is the cause, 
That our business made this pause. 

No, says Joe ; 

'Tis not so, 

This I know. 
Sure, of money there's no lack — 
Only hoarders keep it back. 

Would you then have inflation 
Of Greenback circulation? 

Joe says, no, 

No, no, no, 

No, not so. 
Wise men say, and say it bold, 
Just make Greenbacks par with Gold. 

Then would business soon revive, 
Giving all a chance to live. 

Qood t says Joe, 

Jie it so; 
Quickly go, 
And to Congress earnert pray, 

This change make without dekiv 



60 THE PASTORAL RELATION. 



THE PASTORAL RELATION. 

Come in, sir, said the pastor to a parishioner, as he 
presented himself at the door — very happy to see you. 

Thank you, dear sir, replied the parishioner, for your 
welcome, for I desire to obtain your views on an im- 
portant subject, which presses heavily on my mind. 

It will give me pleasure, rejoined the pastor, if it is 
in my power. What is the subject? 

Well, sir, our son John has for some time been teas- 
ing his mother and me, to let him go to college and 
study for the ministry ; but we are in doubt as to what 
is best in this matter. I have heard the remark often 
made that there is a surplus of ministers already, and 
besides, they are so often shifting about from place to 
place, that they are literally, "pilgrims and strangers 
in the earth/' many of them, at least, having no con- 
tinuing city, nor abiding place. 

Now if John should become a preacher and be spared 
to labor in the work 40 years, he might be obliged to 
pluck up his tent, as many times in that period as did 
Israel in the wilderness. Is it duty, sir, to be at the 
expense and trouble of educating our son for the min- 
istry with such prospects before him, and in view of 
other circumstances with which you are familiar ? 

There is no danger, replied the pastor, I apprehend, 
at present, of training up too many talented and pious 
young men for the ministry ; and your John, I think, 
is a young man of promise. More laborers are needed 
in the missionary field, both at home and abroad. The 
American Board are calling for men to go to the 



THE PASTORAL RELATION. 61 

heathen. Now if John has a missionary heart within 
him, he will find enough to do at home or abroad. 

One thing that has troubled my wife and me, in re- 
lation to our son, is the fluctuating state of the pastoral 
relation. You know, sir, that in multiplied instances, 
ministers have become like drift stuff on a river, here 
stopping, and there stopping, a short time ; and then 
away they go again ; so that it would be difficult to 
find the whereabouts of many ministers, did they not 
drop a notice in some periodical, stating that the Rev. 

Mr. , having removed to such a place, wishes all 

communications intended for him, to be directed ac- 
cordingly. 

Admitting this, sir, said the pastor, I do not deem 
these things sufficient to discourage your sending your 
son to college, with his eye upon the work of the min- 
istry. Trust the Great Head of the Church in all these 
minor matters, and let John proceed with his studies. 
Time, I think will correct some of the evils, which now 
trouble both pastors and churches, connected with the 
very frequent dissolution of the pastoral relation. 

What evil, sir, said the parishioner, is this to the 
churches? 

The pastor, in reply, stated, it tends to create divis- 
ion and to kindle up the fire of strife, some holding on 
to the pastor, and others trying to drive him away — 
some, to avenge their supposed wrongs, neglect public 
worship — some will stand a little one side and take no 
active part, except to find fault with what others do. 
Such strife as is often stirred up by the removal o( a 
good pastor, opens a door for pr08eljtiDg sectarians to 
come in and entice away the disaffected and unstable. 



62 THE PASTORAL RELATION. 

. Instances are not a few, where the removal of a 
minister has kept a church and parish in an uproar of 
contention for months ; and, after all, the new pastor 
was not a whit better than his predecessor — the people 
themselves, after trial, being the judges. Churches and 
parishes have often found their strength diminished r 
rather than increased, by allowing a very few restless 
spirits who are never long satisfied with anything, to 
rule away their pastor. The new pastor for awhile 
labors under the disadvantage of being a stranger to 
the people. A familiar acquaintance with the habits, 
temperaments, religious views and feelings of a people , 
enables a pastor to adapt his labors to them with better 
prospects of success than the stranger. 

Somewhat, said the parishioner, as it is with a 
laborer on a farm, or in an}- other business ; after he 
has become familiar with things around him, other 
things being equal, he is a much more efficient laborer 
than a stranger. 

Just so, replied the pastor ; and it takes from two 
to five years for a pastor to get well acquainted with 
his people, and his people with him. Besides, sir, if a 
pastor expects to remain but a short time in a place, 
he cannot project plans of extensive usefulness, without 
the almost certain prospect of leaving them unfinished. 
This is likely to discourage the entering upon them 
with that interest which he would feel, with the pros- 
pect of cany ing them out. Suppose he wishes to give 
a series of discourses on the doctrines of the Gospel, 
and to present one doctrinal sermon every Sabbath* 
This would be a good plan for any minister, but it 
would take some years to carry it out. 



THE PASTORAL RELATION. 63 

There is reason to apprehend that many churches 
are not so well instructed and established in the doc- 
trines of the Gospel as they ought to be, and as they 
generally were, when the pastoral relation was regarded 
almost as permanent as the pastor's life. If churches 
are not well instructed and established in the doctrines 
of the Cross, they will be proportionably weak and in- 
efficient in the cause of Christ. The custom of often 
changing pastors tends to run clown a church and par- 
ish, just as the frequent changing of tenants is calcu- 
lated to run down a farm. 

If a pastor expects soon to leave his charge, he is 
under a strong temptation to neglect or postpone church 
discipline, and leave the work to his successor ; and 
perhaps the successor, too, may do the same. By this 
course, that discipline which is important to the purity 
and prosperity of the churches, is liable to be lament- 
ably neglected. .This is a great evil. 

Another evil of these frequent removals is, the peo- 
ple are often left for some time without ministerial 
labor, which is important to their prosperity. They 
must wait till they can obtain a candidate ; and, if the 
first does not suit — and it is not very likety he will — 
they must try again, and perhaps again and again. A 
certain church that sent away a good pastor, was sub- 
sequently visited by more than forty different candi- 
dates, and it seemed impossible for any minister on 
earth to satisfy them. One preferred Paul, another 
Apollos, another Cephas, another Barnabas, and some 
had little regard for any of them. The multiplication 
of candidates made their case worse and worse, until 
at length, it is not likely that an angel from heaven 



64 THE PASTORAL RELATION. 

would have been generally acceptable, could they have 
obtained one as a candidate for settlement. 

In another parish, fifty candidates were hired, for- 
ty-nine of whom, for various reasons, did not suit 
the people. The fiftieth candidate was settled, and 
made a good pastor, as, no doubt, many of the others 
would, had they been settled. This multiplication of 
candidates must keep a parish in a constant agitation, 
unfavorable to their prosperity, and is a legitimate 
consequence of that fickleness of mind which leads to 
the frequent removal of good pastors. 

How was it, inquired the parishioner, with the prim- 
itive churches; did they not often change pastors? 
How was it with the seven churches of Asia, named in 
the Apocalypse, and with the apostles of our Lord ? 

The apostles, said the pastor, were necessarily itin- 
erant preachers, because their business was to gather 
and establish churches, where none before existed. 
But it appears that, as soon as these churches were 
well established, they had permanent pastors. The 
angels or pastors to whom John wrote, appear to have 
had a permanent settlement. Even when things that 
remained seemed " ready to die," they were not di- 
rected to remove, but to " be watchful and strengthen 
them " ; and the people, of course, were required to 
co-operate with them. Poly carp is said to have been 
pastor of the church in Smyrna over eighty }-ears. 
Timothy was pastor of the church in EpLesus forty 
years. Neal, in his History of the Puritans, refers- to 
many eminent ministers, who remained 40, 50 and 60 
years in the same parishes. It is implied in these ex- 
amples, which must be regarded as good authority, that 



THE PASTORAL RELATION. 65 

the pastoral relation, in the primitive churches, and 
among the Puritans, was intended to be permanent, as 
a means of promoting the best interests of the church. 

You have stated some of the evils to churches, result- 
ing from a frequent change of pastors ; will you now, 
said the parishioner, point out the evils of it to the pas- 
tor himself ? This will meet the point of my inquiry, 
and perhaps help settle the question of educating John 
for the ministry. 

The good pastor then proceeded as follows : In the 
first place, this floating about of ministers is unfavor- 
able to their intellectual improvement. It tends to 
foster habits of negligence in stud}', and tempts the 
preacher to repeat his old sermons, instead of cultivat- 
ing his mind in the preparation of fresh productions. 

I should think, said the parishioner, that would be 
like a merchant's living upon his capital, instead of his 
profits. He must be growing poor, and must ere long 
come to ragged poverty. 

Very like that, replied the pastor ; and we sometimes 
meet such intellectual poverty in those whose minds 
might have been made a store-house of wisdom, by 
patient application to study. Few, if any, would main- 
tain good habits of study in the ministry, while often 
changing their place of residence and labor. 

Again: Frequent removals are not usually favorable 
to the pastor's pecuniary interest. It sometimes leads 
to a heavy sacrifice in the disposal of real estate, if the 
pastor has any on his hands. Removal in itself is ex- 
pensive, and in other particulars a roving life tends to 
poverty. Perhaps I need not refer to this, for 1 hope 
you do not wish your son John to enter the ministry 



66 THE PASTORAL RELATION. 

for the sake of getting money merely. That would 
disgrace the sacred office. 

Certainly not, said the parishioner. I should be 
willing to have him poor as the apostles, when they 
went out without purse or scrip, if he could be useful 
in the cause of Christ. I think it appears well in a 
minister to show that it is the flock, and not the fleece, 
which he is most anxious to save. It is best to keep 
salaries moderate, to prevent a rush of ungodly men 
into the ministry, for money-making — as many rush to 
fill the vacancy in some political office. 

There seems to be no danger, said the pastor, on the 
"voluntary principle," that salaries will be very flatter- 
ing to a minister's pecuniary interests. In many cases 
it is very hard collecting the small salaries that are 

pledged. The good minister of , when his people 

proposed voting him an increase of salary, came for- 
ward and begged them not to do it, because it was a 
great trouble to collect what was already voted him ; 
and he did not wish to have the trouble increased. 

But. sir, said the pastor, we are diverging a little 
from the point in question, viz., the, evils to ministers 
of frequently sundering the pastoral tie. It is obvious 
that it tends to beget a spirit of discontent and insta- 
bility in the pastor ; so that, instead of seeking the 
best good of his people, he is seeking another people. 

That, rejoined the parishioner, is just as I supposed. 
For I have known a pastor acquire the habit of in- 
stabilit} 7 b t y changing places, and pretend to take a 
journey for his health, when his real object was to seek 
a new field of labor. 

There is another thing: Stated supplies, so called, 



THE PASTORAL RELATION. C7 

have become common since the pastoral relation has 
become so fluctuating. Now, if John should be a min- 
ister, he might be one of this sort. What, said the 
parishioner, do you think of the substitution of stated 
supplies for pastors ? 

Some preachers are calculated to be more useful for 
short, stated supplies, than as pastors. Having little 
inclination to study, and limited resources and prepar- 
ation for the ministry, they wear out if confined to one 
field of labor. 

Some have objected to stated supplies, because, as 
they say, this S3'stem tends to establish a transient and 
floating ministry. This cannot be correct, because 
some pastors seem to keep their places scarcely better 
than stated supplies. A floating ministry has not 
grown out of the stated supply system, but has sprung 
from other causes. Some have preferred the. latter, be- 
cause the former was so very mutable. 

I should much prefer that sort of a pastoral relation 
for John, said the parishioner. 

In this, said the pastor, I think you are right. This 
relation is a sacred one, and rests on the best authority, 
and ought not to be trifled with. But many churches 
now seem to regard it, and to treat it, as having no 
more binding authority than the stated supply system. 
Formerly it was regarded almost as sacred and binding 
as the marriage covenant, and was instituted tor life, 
or during good behavior on the part of the pastor ; and 
it was no very easy matter to separate a respectable 
pastor from his people. But unions and separations 
of this sort have become about as common and as easily 

effected as marriage and divorce* in heat hen countries. 



68 THL PASTORAL RELATION. 

It is greatly to be lamented, both on the part of the 
pastors and churches. This pastoral relation should be 
adopted, as the general rule, while stated supplies and 
itinerancy may be necessary exceptions. Numerous 
and serious indeed are the evils, both to pastors and 
to churches, *of frequently sundering the pastoral tie. 

The causes of these evils is a matter of serious in- 
quiry. Why is it that the pastoral relation has become 
so unstable? inquired the parishioner. Some of these 
causes, said the pastor, are very obvious. One is, the 
hast}' call and settlement of pastors. This often leads 
to a hasty removal. The charge of Paul to Timothy 
(1 Tim. v : 22), u Lay hands suddenly on no man," is 
not heeded as it used to be, in the settlement of pas- 
tors. So long ago as it was fashionable to wear small 
clothes, knee-buckles, shoe-buckles and a cocked hat, 
it was customary for a young candidate for the pastoral 
office, to preach on trial three or four months at least, 
and sometimes a year or more, so that the people might 
see and hear him, in his every -day dress, as well as in 
his best suit. But such a candidateship would not be 
submitted to, in these da} r s of steam-power and hurry. 
A candidate, about to be called to an important field 
of labor, said he would not preach anywhere, as a can- 
didate, more than three or four Sabbaths, call or no 
call, settle or no settle. He was settled hastily, as he 
wished. But the people, after a few months' experience 
with him, became exceedingly dissatisfied, and dis- 
missed him as soon as possible. His hasty settlement 
p?*oved an evil, both to them and to him. It does not 
appear well, especially in a young man, who has no 
established reputation, to press a hasty settlement, nor 



THE PASTORAL RELATION. G9 

is it wise in a people to call such a one, till they have 
opportunity to know him well. 

Another cause of the frequent removal of pastors is 
a neglect of study. Where this is the case, intelligent 
people will soon begin to complain that the preaching 
is not instructive — that the pastor does not bring out 
of the Scriptures things new and old. Now, it is im- 
possible for any man to be an instructive preacher, for 
any considerable time in one place, without studious 
habits. A new text may be selected for every sermon, 
but as it takes something besides a new collar to make 
a new coat, so it takes something more than a new 
text to make a new sermon. Most preachers who 
neglect study, though they ma}' select a new text, 
usually fall into the same old track, and travel round 
and round, like a horse in a mill, or the cars on the 
railroad ; and the constant hearer knows about as well 
where such a preacher will come out in the end, as he 
knows the depot where he has stopped a hundred times. 
With limited preparation for the ministry, and little 
study, the pastoral relation will be fluctuating. 

Never, said the parishioner, shall I give my consent 
to have my son go into the ministry, without a thorough 
education ; and then, even, I believe he will need a 
constant application to study, if he would succeed as 
a pastor. 

I think, said the pastor, your views on this point air 
correct; and now I will direct your attention to anoth- 
er cause of the evil in question, viz. , the fastidiousness of 
hearers. This often breaks up the pastoral relation. 
Some men have what the apostle calls ll itching ears ,f 
(2 Tim. iv :':>), or resemble the Athenians, in wanting 



70 THE PASTORAL RELATION. 

" to hear some new thing" (Acts xvii : 21), instead 
of the Gospel of Christ. The drapery and costume of 
a discourse is more noticed by them, than the impor- 
tant principles and doctrines it contains. Besides, if 
the}* would sometimes wish to hear doctrines of the 
Gospel discussed — to please them, the sharp corners 
must be rounded off, so as to prevent all friction with 
their opinions and consciences. There are not a few 
such hearers, who must be accommodated, or they will 
be trying to get rid of their pastor. Then there are 
some who are very fastidious in respect to the preach- 
er's manner. This is much more noticed by them than 
the matter. Such a sermon was well written, but the 
speaker's elocution was so bad that it spoiled it all for 
me. Such a monotony, such a want of energy, vivac- 
ity, earnestness and unction, is enough to spoil good 
sermons for those who are very dull and sluggish them- 
selves. The more ignorant and stupid hearers are, the 
more noise and energy it requires to beat the truth into 
their minds. Many people think a great deal of what 
they call good manners and good elocution in the 
pulpit, and some good ministers have been dismissed 
from the pastoral office, miainly because they were not 
popular speakers. 

A letter was addressed by a church committee of a 
certain parish, to the President of a Theological Semi- 
nary, requesting him to send them a candidate, with 
the emphatic proviso, "Be sure and send us a good 
speaker!" as if that were an indispensable quality for 
them in the candidate. That elocution has been too 
much neglected in a preparation for the ministry, and 
also while engaged in the work, is too obvious to be 



THE PASTORAL RELATION. 71 

doubted. It has been taken for granted that, if knowl- 
edge is once lodged in the head, it will find its way out 
well enough when called for. Most preachers, by suit- 
able attention to this subject, might be far more effec- 
tive speakers than they now are. Put these two things 
together, viz., the dullness of hearers and the bad elo- 
cution of preachers (and one is about a fair offset for 
the other), and they have much influence in breaking 
up the pastoral relation. The depravity of the heart, 
it might be added, always comes in to second these and 
all other evils connected with this great work. 

Another point bearing upon this subject is, pastoral 
visiting. Neglect of this is often a ground of com- 
plaint; and people are apt to think, if they had a pas- 
tor who would visit enough, they would certainly be 
built up as a church and society. 

I have thought, said the parishioner, that a great 
deal might to be done by family visiting. 

Yes, replied the pastor, it is important. But if a 
pastor visits so much as to neglect his studies, his in- 
telligent hearers will be dissatisfied. If he becomes all 
legs, by running about, depend upon it, he will have 
very little or no head. The demand for pastoral visit- 
ing is often unreasonable; and, on the other hand, it 
is often unreasonably neglected. Parishioners are apt 
to think it a very easy business, for a pastor to visit 
from house to house; but they are mistaken. These 
who have made the trial know it to be a laborious and 
fatiguing exercise. A lady, who was disposed to com- 
plain of her pastor for not visiting more, spent a day 
going from house to house, to obtain collections for a 
benevolent society ; and when the day's work was done, 



72 THE PASTORAL RELATION. 

such was her fatigue, that she said she would never 
again blame her pastor for not visiting more. 

I apprehend, said the pastor, that people are some- 
times not very sincere w hen they invite a minister to 
call; and not much more so, when the}' complain of 
him for not calling on them. Invitations are often a 
mere matter of form or compliment. This, some par- 
ishioners have themselves asserted. Besides, they sel- 
dom visit him in the house of God, and this is proof 
enough that they are indifferent about seeing him any- 
where else. 

It happened, on a certain occasion, that Dr. B- , 

of , called upon a family for a pastoral visit, 

where they did not at that time want to see him. As 
they saw the doctor coming to the door, one of the 

family rudely said, iw I wish the devil had Dr. B ; 

I don't want to see him now." A parrot, that was a 
great pet in the family, and skilled in mocking conver- 
sation, screamed out, as Dr. B. entered, " I wish the 
devil had Dr. B." The good doctor at once supposed 
it had been said by some member of the family before 
he entered; and the parties were all mortified, except 
the honest parrot. The doctor was as glad to retire as 
were the family to see his departure. 

The pastor may be assured that his visits are not 
always so much desired, as soiAe parishioners would 
have him believe. They would not want to see him 
often, if it cost as much to entertain him as it costs 
him in traveling fees and time to make the visit. A 
plrfsician, being asked w T hy it. would not be a good 
plan for the town to pay him a regular salary, and so 
make him responsible for attending upon all the sick, 



THE PASTORAL RELATION. 73 

when they should call him, replied that he should have 
no rest, day or night, and that he could never go 
enough to satisfy the patients. Just so is it with min- 
isters. As their visits cost nothing, some people 
would keep them going all the time. But if the min- 
ister were to be paid for each visit, even half a phy- 
sician's fee, they would very seldom wish to see him — 
perhaps never, inasmuch as they care less for their 
souls than for their bodies. More than one half the 
invitations to visit may be set down by the pastor, 
generally, as a matter of mere courtesy ; and the other 
half he should comply with at his discretion, or as his 
other duties will allow him. With this, a people ought 
to be satisfied. If they keep him out of his study 
more than is meet to visit, his sermons will be propor- 
tionately feeble productions. 

But does not visiting draw people out to meeting, 
and build up society? said the parishioner. 

Perhaps it does have that effect, in man}' cases, said 
the pastor ; but, my good sir, a good sermon has more 
attractive power, with sensible people, than much vis- 
iting. The failure of good sermons has contributed 
more to the removal of pastors than too little visiting. 

What think you, said the parishioner, of the want of 
support among ministers? I want my son to have a 
comfortable living. Can he expect to get it in this 
work? 

This want of support is one of the causes of frequent 

removals. The first year or two after a pastor's settle- 
ment, he is paid, perhaps, very well, and then people 

grow slack, and may be, charge him with want of 
economy. Sometimes there is ground for both these 
lO 



74: THE PASTORAL RELATION. 

charges, and fault on both sides. Ministers, with few 
exceptions, are really poor, and obliged to be econom- 
ical, whether they would or not; and sometimes have 
had their salaries cut down, until they were unable to 
appear decent abroad. This was the fact in the case 
of a certain well educated preacher. His salary did 
not furnish him with decent apparel, and he could not 
get out of the place where he was located, on account 
of his poverty ; and, to keep body and soul together, 
he took a piece of ground to plant with potatoes, on 
shares. Keal poveily in a minister, or among a people, 
awakens sympathy, but it is not always deep enough 
to extend to the pocket, and bring out relief. 

Sometimes there is such instability in the pas ton 
that he is not contented to remain in any place a long 
time, if desired. The bump of inhabitiveness a phre- 
nologist would probably find deficient in such persons. 
There is, on the other hand, a want of stability in some 
people, and this is one of the causes of frequent re- 
movals of pastors. Some people are fond of change, 
even when change brings no improvement. They love 
change for change's sake. When a pastor is removed, 
there is usually a variety of causes which contribute 
more or less to such a result. Sometimes, too, it is 
effected by changes in population, Strangers moving 
into a place, often make strange work and mischief. 
Plain and faithful Gospel preaching is sometimes 
among the causes of the evil in question, and even one 
individual has not unfrequently set a parish against a 
pastor, so as to oblige him to ask a dismission. Thus 
it is, that one man, or a few, sometimes rule all the 
rest of the parish. 



THE PASTORAL RELATION. VO 

Not u n frequently a case of church discipline is the 
cause of breaking up the pastoral relation. As it is 
alwaj's unpleasant, the pastor may be glad to take a 
dismission, and leave the burden to his successor ; or, 
if he engage in it, enough may take up arms against 
him to drive him away. 

Among many others which might be named, I wilL 
refer, said the pastor, to only one more of the causes 
of the evil in question, and that is the inefficiency or 
want of fidelity in ecclesiastical councils. For example : 
Cases have occurred, where councils were called, not 
to advise in reference to a dismission, but just to say 
amen to the arrangement between the pastor and 
people. The dismission is asked and granted, by vote, 
and the whole matter adjusted, and then a council in- 
vited, not to advise, but just to say so be it. Thus a 
council is made the mere tool of one party or parties, 
and is not left with so much as advisory power. A 
church that might be named, affirmed to a council in 
session, that they were not called to give advise, but 
only to sanction their church doings. This was surely 
not very complimentary to the venerable body. But 
many a council have fared in much the same way. 

The member of a council was once asked why a cer- 
tain pastor was dismissed. He replied that they could 
not help it, as the business was all done before the 
council assembled, and all it could do was to say anion, 
and retire. This was a case where advise was much 
needed, and where, had it been followed, the pastor 
might have continued a long time. No good reason 
existed to the contrary, lint the eouneil laeked that 
decision which was neeessary to (U^ their duty, and the 



76 THB PASTORAL RELATION. 

pastor or the people, or both, the courtesy to afford 
them the opportunity. True, an ecclesiastical council 
has no other than advisory power, and should have no 
other, except by consent of the parties ; but this should 
always be respected, or councils are mere tools, of 
little use. 

Perhaps, said the pastor, we have dwelt longer on 
the evils and causes of a frequent change in the pas- 
toral relation, than was expedient. 

It was my wish, replied the parishioner, to under- 
stand the whole subject ; and now, sir, can you point 
out the remedy for these evils ? 

I can say, in a word, that the remedy for any evil 
consists in removing the causes which produce it. Let 
the causes named be removed, and the evils are all 
cured. Let there be proper deliberation in the settle- 
ment of pastors. Let pastors, as they wish to hold 
the respect of their people, apply themselves to study, 
that there may be variety and instruction in their dis- 
courses ; and let them give due attention to the prin- 
ciples of elocution, and pray God to kindle up within 
them a burning zeal for the salvation of sinners. Let 
slothfulness be put away, and the excessive reading of 
newspapers and periodicals, find a substitute in the 
study of standard works in theology, and the pastor 
give himself wholly to his appropriate work ; and his 
people will not complain that his discourses run in the 
same old track, but be edified and profited. 

On the other hand, let hearers put away fastidious- 
ness, and strive to regard the truth as of the first im- 
portance, and the costume in which it is presented, and 
the manner of the speaker, as minor things. People 



THE PASTORAL RELATION. 77 

should no more think of dismissing a pastor for an im- 
perfect delivery of his message, if it be the Gospel, 
than they should put away a Bible, as unworthy of 
their use, because the edges were not gilded and the 
binding embossed. As the truths of the Gospel are 
just as good in a plain binding as in the most expen- 
sive, so, plainly preached, they are just as good as if 
gilded with rhetoric and fine elocution. The Great 
Head of the church has thought best to furnish but 
very few preachers, with high ornamental gifts, and, of 
course, did not intend to gratify the fastidiousness of 
unreasonable hearers. Such ambassadors as He sends 
them, ought to be gratefully received and retained, 
and never sent awa} T to gratify itching ears. 

It is obvious that some reform, on the part of both 
pastor and people, is necessary to render the pastoral 
relation suitably permanent. In respect to family vis- 
iting, many pastors need to be more attentive, and 
people to be generally more indulgent. In regard to 
expenditures, some pastors could well afford to be 
more economical, and most parishes to be more liberal 
and prompt in their support. Some ministers surfer 
more from neglectful parishioners in this matter, than 
their modesty allows them to express. 

Pastors should guard against instability and love of 
change, while people, too, should cultivate the prin- 
ciple of steadfastness, and never dismiss their pastor 
without weighty reasons. Let church discipline be at- 
tended to, in all cases, with unhesitating promptne 
and no pastor try to shun it by dismission, and no 
people turn him away for his fidelity. Let ecclesiasti- 
cal councils maintain their rights, and not submit to 



78 CHRISTIAN LOYE. 

be used as mere tools, just adding u amen" to the doings 
which need investigation and advise. Let a perma- 
nent pastoral relation be the rule, and the stated 
supply the occasional exception, where the necessi- 
ties of the case demand it. In these, and in other 
particulars that might be mentioned, let there be a 
suitable reform on the part of pastors and people, and 
the causes and the evils of a very frequent dissolution 
of the pastoral tie, would be removed, and this relation 
become so permanent as to prove a great blessing to 
the churches and their teachers. 

After listening to all these considerations from the 
pastor, the enlightened parishioner expressed his 
thanks, as he retired, remarking that, if the causes and 
evils referred to were removed, and the pastoral rela- 
tion rendered stable, as it was half a century ago, he 
should have no objection to sending his son John to 
college and training him for the ministry. 



CHRISTIAN LOYE. 

I Thess. iv : 9. — For ye yourselves are taught of God 
to love one another. 

The apostle hereby reminded the church in Thessa- 
lonica, of a lesson taught them bv the highest authoritv. 
He probably discovered a good reason for calling their 
attention to it. In the verse comprising the text, he 
said, as touching brotherly love : u Ye need not that I 
write unto you ; for ye yourselves are taught of God," 
by his word and his spirit ; so that the lesson was already 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 79 

before them. In the context, he commended them for 
the attention given to this lesson: "Indeed, ye do it 
toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia ; but 
we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and 
more " — meaning that he discovered love among them, 
but not enough of it. As they needed an increase, he 
put them upon a review of this lesson which God had 
taught them. This lesson was designed for all succes- 
sive periods of the church. It is now important as 
ever, and binding on all Christians now as ever ; and 
enjoined bj^ the same authority as ever. Still, there is 
reason to fear that it is not so much studied, nor so 
thoroughly learned by all professed Christians now, as 
its importance demands. 

By some, Christian love is deemed a hard lesson to 
learn, and still harder to practice. But the difficulty 
is not in the lesson — if it seems hard — but in the 
learner. In itself, it is a very plain one, and all that 
makes it seem hard to any, is an evil heart, a stubborn 
will, and the want of a docile mind in the pupil. To 
illustrate and impress our minds with this lesson, it is 
proposed to consider some of the characteristics of true 
Christian affect ion . 

We will then ask the apostle Paul to give us one 
characteristic. lie says, u Let love be without dissimu- 
lation, " L e., sincere, honest, unfeigned, not counterfeit. 
But it often has its counterfeits, like money, because 
it is valuable, and is often passed, like bogus money, 
for genuine ; and aids the wieked in earning out their 
evil designs in injuring others. But if one pretends to 

love a neighbor or a brother, merely to get a personal 
favor — to get a vote for office, or a good bargain in 



80 CHRISTIAN LOVE. 

trade— he has no Christian affection for him at all, but 
only a selfish affection. Often is there a pretext of 
love, where sincere affection is entirely wanting. But 
that which is enjoined in our text, is pure, honest, sin- 
cere, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 

Let us ask the apostle Peter to give us a character- 
istic of this Christian virtue. He says, "See that ye 
love one another with pure hearts fervently" — or with a 
high degree of affection — very ardently — as did the 
early Christians, of whom enemies said, " see how they 
love, and are ready to la\< down their lives for each 
other." The enemies of the Cross have been aston- 
ished at the exhibitions of this love among the perse- 
cuted disciples of Christ. They suffered great indigni- 
ties, and even laid down their lives for his sake. It 
still has great power in the church, where, in a good 
measure, it prevails. 

Let us inquire of the apostle John, for a character- 
istic of this element in the church of Christ. He says, 
"Let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but indeed 
and in truth ;" L e., love should be manifested, not in 
words merely, but in good deeds, or practically. If a 
fellow-being be needy, help him, if in your power ; if 
hungry, feed him ; if naked, clothe him ; if sick or in 
trouble, visit him ; if exposed to the peltings of the 
storm, shelter him ; if robbed and bleeding by the 
roadside, after the example of the good Samaritan, 
provide entertainment for him, and pay the bill ; thus 
giving a practical exhibition of true Christian love. 

The most marvelous manifestation of love ever made, 
was by our Savior, in the great work of redemption, 
when he veiled his divinity in humanity, and suffered 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 81 

and died on the cross, to save sinners. Such a prac- 
tical manifestation of love was never before seen nor 
heard of in any other case. The world knows no other 
like it — so great, so glorious, so divine ! Dr. Watts 
has beautifully expressed it: 

" Could we with ink the ocean fill, 
Were the whole earth of parchment made, 
Were every single stick a quill, 
And every man a scribe by trade, — 
To write the love of Christ to man, 
Would drain the ocean dry; 
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, 
Tho' stretched from earth to sky." 

Now, professed Christians are bound to carry out 
this principle, by loving one another practically. In 
this, " he hath given us an example, that we should 
follow his steps." 

We will now ask the apostle Paul to give us a char- 
acteristic of the durability of this love. lie says, 4i Let 
brotherly love continue;" i\ c, or be constant and un- 
failing — not cease at all. It should be like the peren- 
nial fountain, always flowing; like the fixed star, 
always shining. But. if a brother has fallen into some 
flagrant sin and disgraced himself and dishonored the 
church, may we not cease to love him? By no means, 
because it would unlit us for suitable efforts to reclaim 
him. Though a personal enemy, Christ requires us to 
love him still. But his wicked e niduet is not to be 

loved nor approved, while h \ shonl 1 be dealt with in 

love. Christ's love wis constant and abiding. " In 

loving his own, he love 1 them unt > t!i \ en 1." His love 
to them Lays the foundation of their love to him, and to 

11 



82 CHRISTIAN LOVE. 

each other. It is a common mathematical axiom, that 
■'two things equal to the same thing are equal to each 
other." It is equally true that any two individuals who 
love the Lord Jesus Christ (knowing each other) will 
also love one another. Wherever this Christian virtue 
exists, in good measure, in a church, it melts the body 
into one mass, makes them all of one accord, and a 
light of great value to the world. It prepares them to 
work together, like the two hands on the same bod}'. 
The two hands are always friendly, and read}' to help 
each other. If one suffers, the other suffers ; they 
never quarrel nor attempt to injure one another. So, 
Christian brethren ought ever to labor and pray with 
one heart and with one spirit, and that spirit be the 
spirit of Christ Jesus. 

One other characteristic of true Christian affection, 
should be noticed, viz. : It is universal, or not restricted 
to name nor sect, but extends to all men — high or low, 
rich or poor, learned or illiterate, of whatever condition 
or complexion, of whatever country or climate, of 
whatever nation or tribe ; if born of the Spirit and 
truly love the Lord Jesus Christ, we are bound to love 
them as his disciples and as brethren. Why? Because 
they are children of the same family, and heirs of the 
same inheritance. His atoning blood that "cleanseth 
from all sin," his kingdom on earth, and his hoi}' and 
eternal kingdom in heaven, are common to them all. 
They are all one in him, as He is one with the Father. 
Hence he says, " I in them and thou (Father) in me, 
that they may be one even as we are one " — a most 
blessed union among all the true disciples of Christ. 

Yet true Christian love is not restricted to the narrow 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 83 

compass of the church ; but, like the love of Christ, it 
extends to all men ; that is, his love of benevolence ; 
while his love of complac3iicy is exercised only toward 
true Christians. The love of c >mplacency is like the 
bay that embraces all the little islands that lie on its 
bosom ; while the love of benevolence is like the ocean, 
embracing not only the little islands, but throwing its 
broad arms around whole continents, and thus by its 
extensive sweep takes in the whole world. This is in 
keeping with the teaching of the apostle, where he says, 
" Honor all men ; love the brotherhood. Do good 
unto all men, especially unto them who are of the 
household of faith." Because such are related by a 
spiritual and everlasting friendship, and b}- a common 
union to Christ. Christian love is of heavenly origin. 
and in all its properties is superlatively excellent. 

The considerations presented afford a good test of 
Christian character. Those who are destitute of wn- 
cere, fervent, practical, constant and universal Chris- 
tian afftction, give no satisfactory evil nice of being 
the true disciples of Christ. lie has given this 
plain test rule, namely, " By this shall all men know 
that ye are my disciples : if ye have love one to one 
another." Another rule: '• AVc know that we have 
passed from death unto life, because we love the breth- 
ren." u lie that loveth not his brother abideth in 
death" — or is dead in trespasses and sin. Have we 
learned this rule? Do we practice it? 

This subject suggests the remark, that it is the duty 
of the Christian, not only t;> low the brethren, but to 
render himself lovable. Some professed Christians im- 
bibe th. 4 notion 1 1 1 : 1 1 their neighbors and brethren do 



84 CHRISTIAN LOVE. 

not esteem and love them as they ought, and perhaps 
blame their friends for not practicing upon them the 
lesson taught in the text. If such should inquire for 
the cause, they would probably find something in their 
disposition or deportment that makes them disagree- 
able, so that they are not lovable. Perhaps they are 
censorious and severe in their remarks about others ; 
uncharitable, troublesome, and by unchristian behavior 
bring scandal on the church. Yet, the}' may possibly 
be true Christians, as backsliders. Good fruit often 
grows on crooked, knotty and grafted limbs, while the 
same tree bears natural and unpleasant fruit. 

There is another class, who make themselves unlovely 
by their officious and overbearing deportment in the 
church and society. The}' would like to rule the whole 
bod}', pastor and ail ; and if the}' are not able to do it, 
stir up the dust of strife, and thereby smother that 
affection for themselves which brethren would readily 
bestow upon them, if they would walk humbly before 
God. Such persons should remember that it is no 
more the duty of neighbors and brethren to love them, 
than it is their duty to make themselves lovable, or 
worthy of that affection which they desire. 

While some are too officious, there are others of an 
opposite character, and render themselves unlovely by 
their indifference to the welfare of the church and soci- 
ety ; and who stand as almost fruitless trees in the vine- 
yard of the Lord. If active in Christian duty, imbib- 
ing the spirit of Christ, they would make themselves 
useful, and lovely and beloved. In short, those who 
would be loved as Christians and neighbors, must so 
behave as to make themselves lovable, and then they 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 85 

will not fail in securing a good measure of Christian 
affection, 

This subject furnishes a scale by which the piety of 
of professed Christians maybe measured. It is always 
proportioned to the amount of Christian love among 
them. In seasons of revival and the special visitations 
of' the Holy Spirit, the Christian's heart glows with 
fraternal affection, The more vital piety, the more 
love and prevailing prayer, and the greater the blessing. 
Little love in the church, little true godliness. By this 
scale, the piety of an individual, or of a church, maybe 
measured with as much accuracy as the merchant meas- 
ures his stock in trade, or the thermometer measures 
the heat and the cold. 

Our subject suggests the remark, that unity in love 
produces unit}' of action in the church of Christ. 
Joined together by this tie, they will move like a united 
team ; and then the load of trials and troubles, though 
onerous, will move up the hill. But when one pulls 
one way, and another a different way, and another will 
not pull at all, there can be no prosperity. Philoso- 
phers tell us that all matter is held together by cohesive 
attraction; and, if this property is destroyed, matter 
at once falls to pieces. In like manner, let the cohesive 
principle of love be destroyed in the church of Christ, 
and it would be in ruins. It is this that has saved the 
church, under God, from having been long ago de- 
stroyed by enemies. It is this that gives her strength 
and arms her with power, and infuses energy into her 
efforts. Love is the soul of the church. This gone, 
all would be gone, and the church of Christ would die. 
lint, this living in them, Christians will be active in 



86 CHRISTIAN LOVE. 

duty, the church prosper, and the Sovereign Head be 
glorified thereby. Its influence in the church is most 
happy. It is like oil to machinery, abating friction by 
its lubricating power, an I making all the parts run eas}~. 
It tends to make business meetings pleasant and effi- 
cient ; to make church discipline easy and useful, or to 
prevent its necessity altogether. It tends to make 
prayer-meetings delightful and profitable, and all inter- 
course of Christians and neighbors most happy. 

It is not easy to calculate the amount of benefits and 
blessings that flow from the sweet fountain of true 
Christian love. Were it exercised as the Gospel re- 
quires, it would make the world a paradise, and a pro- 
totype of heaven. How important, then, that our souls 
should be replenished and permeated with this love. 
It is the bond which holds the church of Christ to- 
gether, as the hoops bind the cask. Remove the hoops 
and the cask falls to pieces ; but, well hooped, it will 
bear much rough usage and still hold together. So the 

O CD O 

church, bound together by the bond of fraternal affec- 
tion, can bear rude treatment from enemies, and remain 
secure. There is a mighty power in this for the safety 
of the church, which bids dafianee, under Christ, to all 
her enemies, giving assurance that "the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against it." 

The nails and pins in the building are little things, 
and chiefly out of sight ; yet how necessary to the 
strength of the building. Remove a portion of them,- 
and you weaken it ; remove them all. and 3-ou demolish 
it. Should all brotherly love be taken out of the 
church, its ruin would be certain. But, like the edifice 
well fastened with pins and nails, the church well fas- 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 87 

tenecl by fraternal love, is strong, and whatever storm 
or enemies may assail her, she will stand secure. 

How, then, may this bond in the church of Christ be 
strengthened? The answer is, by imitating the imitable 
examples of Christ — imbibing the spirit of meekness 
and benevolence, and living a holy life. Also, by 
studying the lesson taught in our text. We may think 
we understand it, when it needs more to be studied. It 
should be reviewed again and again, till perfectly mas- 
tered ; and we can. avoid all mistakes in its application. 
Deeds of sympathy and kindness tend to strengthen 
this bond among Chi istians. also praying for each other. 
If a brother, by some offence, has cut this tie between 
him and me, I should pray for him in secret, and be 
sure I do it with a right spirit. Then we should meet 
and pray and confer together, and we shall be melted 
together at the feet of Christ, and love again as ever, 
if true Christians. But, if I won't, or he won't do this, 
and love as brethren, then I have reason to suspect 
myself or himself, or both of us, mere lrypocrites. 

The bearings of this subjects on the church of Christ 
are weighty, and should be made a test of character. 
Have we thoroughly learned and faithfully practiced 
this lesson which God has taught us, as he did the 
church in Thessalonica? Fraternal love ought to burn 
continually on the altar of our hearts, with a holy 
flame. Does it? Our duty, happiness and title to 
heaven demand it. There, the love of redeemed saints 
will be perfected. Washed in the same atoning blood, 
sanctified by the same spirit, and saved by the same 
grace, will make them all one lovely and loving family. 
Love is the golden chain thkt binds them to Christ and 



88 THE CHRISTIAN HOPE. 

to each other, in an everlasting bond. Gocl grant that 
we maj' be of that holy and happy company ; that we 
may eventually plunge into that sea of love and bliss ; 
and bathe our souls in its limpid flood forever and ever. 



THE CHRISTIAN HOPE. 
Psalm cxix : 11 G. — Let me not be ashamed of my hope. 

All men have hope, and are always hoping. Tin 
objects of hope are many. Things of everyday life 
are objects of hope, and every person has, continually, 
some object of hope before him. Those in the morn- 
ing of life, hope to live to middle life, and then to old 
age ; and old age, usually, hopes to live a little longer. 
The poor man hopes to become rich, and the rich to be 
richer still ; the sick hope to regain health ; the ambi- 
tions aspirant hopes to secure some post of honor or 
office, which, perhaps, many others are also hoping to 
gain. Every person hopes to have his own purposes 
and plans accomplished, in regard to worldly interests. 
Though often subjected to disappointment, men will 
not cease hoping while life lasts. So bent are the}' on 
hoping, that they often hope against hope, or grasp the 
mere shadow of hope, when the substance is beyond 
their reach. 

All men have hope, however wicked or ungodly they 
may be, that it will be well with them after death. 



THE CHRISTIAN HOPE. 89 

The skeptic or infidel hopes lhat the Christian faith is 
fabulous; that the Bible is only the word of man, and 
not the word of God ; that the soul and the body per- 
ish in the grave together, or that death is an eternal 
sleep ; and, as he likes to live like the brute, caring 
nothing about God, so, like the brute, he hopes to die. 
The Jew, rejecting Jesus of Nazareth as the Savior of 
the world, hopes the Mesiah is yet to come. The Mo- 
hamedan hopes chat his alms, prayers and pilgrimages 
will bring him, at death, to a paradise of sensual pleas- 
ures. The Hindoo hopes to be cleansed from sin in 
the waters of the Ganges. A Brahmin said to a mis- 
sionaiy, if the water of the Ganges would not purify 
him from sin, he did not know what could do it, till 
the missionary directed him to " the blood of Christ, 
which cleanseth from all sin." 

The preacher hopes, when he proclaims the message 
of the Gospel, that the people will believe, obey and 
secure salvation. Bat how often is he disappointed 
and pained to see so many neglect the great salvation. 
Every sect hopes that their favorite creed will prove 
true, and that there is no other so near right as their 
own ; and, as Aaron's rod swallowed up all the serpents 
of the mngicians, so they hope their system of faith 
will gain a triumph over all others, and become the re- 
ligion of the whole world. 

Some (litter themselves that it matters not what ono 

believes about God and eternal things — whether he bo 

Jew or Hindoo, atheist or infidel, deist, or pantheist, 

pagan or Mohamedan, Pharisee or Christian — if he is 

only sincere and lives up to his faith ; he hopes it will 
IS 



90 THE CHRISTIAN HOPE. 

be just as well, and that God will never mind the dif- 
ference, either in belief or practice. But imbibing this 
notion is offering insult to God, by supposing that he 
makes no distinction between truth and error, or holi- 
ness and sin. If this idea is correct, then the Bible is 
of no use as a rule of faith, and we might as well have 
the Koran of Mahomet, the Shaster of the Hindoos, 
or the Talmuds of the Jewish Rabbins. If this notion 
is true, it is no matter what we preach, or how we 
practice — whether we worship the true God or idols, or 
no God at all. Away, then, with such falsehood and 
absurdity. But notice, that those who pretend that it 
is no matter what the belief is, if it is sincere, are gen- 
erally found to be enemies to the gospel of Christ, and 
discard it, as unworthy of their regard. 

The hope of salvation with many rests on the ground 
of their morality — like the certain ruler, who said to 
Christ, he had kept all the commandments from his 
youth up. Jesus said, " yet thou laekest one thing: 
sell all thou hast and give unto the poor, and come, 
follow me." At this, he was greatly disappointed and 
sorrowful. He hoped to obtain heaven at a cheaper 
rate, or for his morality. But this was not enough to 
save him. Some now flatter and cheat themselves in 
the same way. Moral it}^ is an important part of true 
piety, but it is not the whole of it — good as far as it 
goes, but not sufficient to save the soul. "Not by 
works of righteousness (sa} r s the apostle) which we 
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by 
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost." The Pharisees hoped that their self-righteous* 



TI1E CHRISTIAN IIOrE. 91 

ness, alms, titles and prayers would save them ; but 
Christ condemned them as hypocrites. Though the 
name Pharisee is not now applied to an}' class, there 
are numerous specimens of character after their pattern 
— as full of self-righteousness, just such white- washed 
sepulchres, with a pretext of purity, yet full of pollu- 
tion. Let no one think that a mere moral life, or self- 
righteousness, is a safe ground upon which to build a 
hope of eternal life. There is reason to be ashamed of 
such a hope. 

Taere are some who rest their hope of salvation, iu 
a measure, on past experience. In time of excitement 
or revival, they were interested, and felt some sort of a 
change ; and though the fruits of a Christian life have 
not followed it, they hang a hope on that frail, rusty 
hook of experience, and flatter themselves it is valua- 
ble, and would not give it up for the whole world. Yet 
better throw it away forthwith, as worthless. There 
arc many such old hopes, which are like dead trees in 
the forest, without fruit or sap or foliage, fit only for 
fuel. There are many changes that are not the regen- 
eration of the heart, and which make heart and life no 
better. In seasons of revival there are usually some 
who are excited — talk, weep, exhort and pray, and 
make much ado about religion — who, in a little time 
after the excitement is past, dry up like the brook that 
runs between the hills in time of a shower. Let it be 
remembered that all such old hopes, which are not 
backed up by a godly life, arc all good for nothing — 
worse than nothing — even dangerous l.o the soul. Like 
an old, leaky vessel, that will perish iu the first storm 



92 THE CHRISTIAN HOPE. 

to which it is exposed, so all such hopes will perish in 
the day of trial, and fill the hoper with shame. 

Still another rests a hope of salvation, very much, 
on his church membership. This is not safe, for one 
may be in the church, and yet out of Christ. Judas 
was in the church, but he never had any piety ; for 
Christ said, he had a devil from the beginning. Hy- 
meneus and Philetus were in the church, but were des- 
titute of true godliness. Demas was a professor, and 
labored with Paul awhile; but his love of the world 
led him to forsake Paul and abandon his profession, for 
world ly gain. 

Now, Christ has made it the duty of every Christian 
to join the visible church ; and the duty of all men to 
become true Christians ; but, merely joining the church, 
no more makes one a Christian, than tacking a scion to 
a limb with a nail, makes it a fruitful part of the tree. 
It must be grafted in, and receive nourishment from 
the tree, or wither and die. So the soul must be 
grafted into Christ, b}' faith and love, and yield the 
fruits of obedience, or j) ro f ess ^ on is useless, or worse 
than useless ; for, " a false hope, fortified by a false 
profession, is the most effectual battery against the 
artillery of the gospel." Indeed, it is an almost hope- 
less case, to assail with arrows of gospel truth, those 
who stand behind the shield of a long-cherished false 
hope. Of such false professors, Christ says : "Why call 
ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say." 
11 But have we not eaten and drunken in thy presence* 
and hast thou not taught in our streets?" Yes, you 
have been at the communion table, and have heard my 



THE CHRISTIAN HOPE. 93 

gospel, but 4i I know you not as my disciples." I never 
knew you, except as hypocrites. A hope built on mere 
profession, rests on the sand, which the storms of 
temptation and trial will surely sweep away. 

There is yet another self flatterer, who hopes to be 
saved, because he hopes none will be left to perish. If 
God punishes at all for sin, he hopes it will be all in 
this world. But the Scriptures as much warrant t!:e 
belief that the righteous will receive all their rewards 
in this life, us that the wicked will here receive all their 
retribution. Well, the objector says, if there is to be 
any future punishment, I hope it will be only temporary 
and disciplinary. But the Scriptures afford as much 
evidence that the happiness of the righteous in heaven 
wiil be temporary or limited, as that the misery of the 
lost will be of limited duration. As the objector feels 
much difficulty in standing in this corner, he runs to 
another, and says : God is too good and merciful to 
punish forever, and man cannot deserve it. Why, then, 
does he say that "the wicked shall go away into ever- 
lasting punishment? 9 ' Is this a false alarm, only to 
frighten the disobedient? If all the threatenings of 
God's word are so many delusive terrors, which he 
never intends to execute, what are his promises? Are 
these all vain flatteries, mere false encouragements? 
Why not false, if his threats are so? If we believe 
not the threatenings of God's word, how can we believe 
his promises? If we refuse to take his word in the one 
Case, to be consistent, we must reject it in the other. 
Troubled here, the objector says: God IS merciful, and 
"not willing that any should perish, but that all should 



H 



THE CHRISTIAN HOPE. 



come to repentance." True, but he requires obedience 
to the conditions of his mercy ; and what it the con- 
ditions are rejected ? Will he bestow pardon and sal- 
vation on the sinner, without his repenting? and with, 
out his believing and obeying? Surely not, because 
these are the specified conditions, on which he offers 
salvation. But the objector still asks : Won't tlic will 
of God be done, in that he is not willing that any 
should perish in their sins ; and who can effectually re- 
sist his will? We know that men do resist his will, 
from the fact that the}* disobey his commands. The 
fact that he has provided and offered salvation to sin- 
ners, through the mediation and suffering of Christ, is 
proof that he is not willing they should perish. Bat, 
by many, this salvation is voluntarily rejected, as 
offered in the gospel. Now, a hope cf salvation, built 
on such perversion of God's word, or opposition to the 
gospel plan of salvation, will prove frail ab the spider's 
web in the day of t: ial . 

Xot a few rest their hope of salvation on the ground 
of future repentance. This is common, under the light 
of the gospel. The plea is, they are not ready, and 
they hope God will excuse them for not attending to 
their soul's salvation, till they find a convenient season. 
But God's command is now. " Behold, now is the ac- 
cepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 
But the sinner says, not now, but at some future time ; 
or when laid on a sick and dying bed. The command 
is now. But the excuse is, worldly cares are now 
pressing heavily, and I hope will soon be lighter, and 
then I will take up this matter in earnest. Bat your 



THE CHI7ISTIAN HOPE. 95 

sins will be greater, your heart harder, the day of reck- 
oning nearer ; and your son) may he lost, beyond all 
hope, before yon get ready earnestly to seek salvation. 
There is great reason to he afraid of such delay. An- 
other plea is: I hope God will, hy-and-by, send his 
Holy Spirit, and make me a Christian. I think I am 
ready, and desire this blessing. You ready ! and the 
Holy Spirit not ready ! You waiting for Him, when 
he is always ready, and has long been waiting for yon? 
Oli ! how strange such self-flattery and self-justification. 
Perhaps yon have taken some credit to yourself for 
your patience in waiting for the Holy Spirit, and thus 
casting the blame of your delay on Him. This is un- 
reasonable and impious. You are not, you would not 
be, you hardly could be, so unreasonable in anything 
else, as you are in the matter of your soul's salvation. 
God cannot be any more willing and ready to cive 
his Holy Spirit, than he now is — even " more ready 
than earthly parents are to give good gifts to their 
children. " But this blessed agent has been resisted 
and grieved away. Many have taken a lesson from 
Felix, who said, " go thy way for this time, and when 
I have a convenient season I will call for thee." 
This procrastination was probably his ruin ; and 
thousands have been riuned in the same way ; and 
the danger is as great as ever. A hope of salvation, 
resting on the expectation of a better time, or a greater 
readiness of the Holy Spirit, is utterly vain. Let this, 
then, and all the other hopes that have thus far been 
named, be abandoned for one which is good and saving. 
There is one which is unlike all these, and which will 



96 THE CHRISTIAN HOPE. 

never disappoint its possessor — one of which there is 
no occasion to be ashamed. It is a hope that does not 
rest on mere morality, nor on past experience, nor oil 
church membership, nor on the belief that God will 
never execute his threatenings, nor on the purpose of 
future repentance, nor on waiting for the Holy Spirit. 
On none, nor on all of these together ; but this good 
hope rests on the Rock Christ Jesus. It is the hope of 
salvation obtained by true repentance and faith in Him ; 
and the washing of regeneration and the renewing of 
the Holy Ghost. This hope is worth having — of ines- 
timable value. Tbe apostle calls it the anchor of the 
soul, meaning it is that which makes the soul safe, amid 
the trials and temptations on life's storm}' sea. It was 
Paul's anchor — the anchor of all the apostles and mar- 
tyrs ; and is now the anchor of every true Christian. 
Faith may represent the cable, by which the soul is 
connected to the anchor, and when this is strong, hope 
is vigorous. It " is sure and steadfast," or will never 
fail, nor disappoint the soul ; but hold on through all 
the storms of life. " It enters that within the veil," or 
the most holy place in heaven ; and is there fixed to 
the eternal throne of the glorified Redeemer. While 
the hopes of the ungodly all perish, this hope fails 
never. Hence the apostle calls it " a good hope," a 
u blessed hope," and u a lively hope." Thrice blessed 
are all who have it. " He that hath this hope purifieth 
himself." Have you this hope? Every person has 
some hope, is hoping continually, and full of hope as 
can be. Which of all the hopes described is yours? 
But one is like the anchor. Is this yours? Its value? 



THE CHRISTIAN HOPE. 97 

surpasses that of all others, and is of infinite price. 
There is great peace and comfort in it, and a foretaste 
of eternal gloiy. It is the precious solace of the 
Christian life, and the cordial of every bitter cup of 
affliction. It gives courage to the Christian, to fight 
the good fight of faith ; it nerves his arm, and inspires 
the whole man to " press toward the mark, for the 
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Oh, 
the exceeding preciousness of this hope ! Who can 
estimate its worth? 

11 Were the whole sea one chrysolite, 

The earth a golden ball, 
And diamonds all the stars of night, 
This hope is worth them all." 

And the poet might have justly added, infinitely more. 
Yet, it is the property of every true Christian, making 
him rich, making him happy and joyful in Christ Jesus. 
It is his anchor, and an assurance of his heirship to 
imperishable riches in heaven. He lives on this hope ; 
watches, prays, sings, labors and rejoices continually 
in this hope; and does nothing for Christ without it. 
If destitute of this hope, you must have it, or the dark- 
ness of despair will shut down upon your horizon at 
the night of death, and exclude you from the glories 
of an eternal day. No matter now about vour neigh- 
bor. Have you this hope? If not, secure it while you 
may. It has been compared to a k * beautiful bird, that 
comes midst storm and darkness, and sings sweetest 
when the soul is the saddest." Olh ves, some lu^- 

reaved and afflicted soul responds, by experience, I 

13 



98 THE GOLDEN RULE. 

know it. When the soul is crushed under life's trials, 
and longs for rest, this plaintive songster sings its 
sweetest strains. Who, then, will refuse to say, Let 
this Christian hope be mine, and let Christ be mine, 
and me be his; let his will be mine, his service mine, 
his people mine ; and let Him have all the glory, the 
glory evermore. 



o— 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 

Matt, vii : 12. — Therefore all things whatsoever ye 
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. 

This text comprises a summary of all the duties 
which man owes to his fellow-man. Aptly has it been 
called our Saviour's Golden Rule, on account of its 
great value. It is comprehensive, and expresses more 
valuable instruction than has been comprised in many 
a large volume. No mere man was ever the author of 
so much golden truth as our Saviour has expressed in 
this single verse of his word. "All things whatsoever 
ye would,* 7 — meaning such things as are reasonable and 
right, or "all that you would expect or desire of others, 
in similar circumstances, do to them." Now, it seems 
as if an}' one might make a discourse from this text ; it 
is so plain and so rich in its suggestions ; and, practi- 
cally, every one should do it, and preach it continually 
by a faithful Christian life. 

Were the Golden Rule strictly carried out, it would 
be an antidote to all the moral evils of society. It 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 99 

would remove enxy, avarice, selfishness, deceit, and 
all peculation and fraud in business. It would put an 
end to war, litigation, intemperance, lying, slander, 
theft, robbery, murder, and every crime of man against 
his fellow-man. It would render useless all the locks, 
bolts and bars of our shops, store-houses, dwellings, 
our prisons, and the gallows ; and save a vast amount 
of labor and expense. In short, it would prove a 
catholicon to every moral evil. Carried out as a law, 
it would serve a like purpose in society, as the gov- 
ernor in the mill, that regulates the speed, keeping the 
wheels in uniform velocity. The two iron arms, with 
an iron ball at the end of each, turning right and left, 
and left to right, operate very easily, yet have a mighty 
power in regulating the speed. Without it, the irreg- 
ular speed would do great mischief to the work. 

Now, if this principle, taught in the text, were 
united by appropriate gearing to every man's heart, 
as the governor is to the steam-engine, all business 
affairs among men would go pleasantly and admirably. 
The practical lessons enjoined by this rule are many. 
It teaches me that if I do not wish my neighbor to in- 
jure me, I should be careful not to injure him. As I 
do not wish to be deceived and defrauded in a bargain, 
by 1113- neighbor, I should not do so to him. I ought to 
be as unwilling to cheat as to be cheated ; to do wrong 
as to receive wrong. As I do not wish to have others 
contract debts to me, or borrow money, without a rea- 
sonable prospect of being able t;> pay, then 1 must 
never do so to them. If I do not wish to be crushed 
Under foot by a creditor, when, by some unavoidable 



100 THE GOLDEN RULE. 

misfortune, I cannot pa}', I should never do so to oth- 
ers. As I do not wish to be cheated out of an honest 
debt, on the pretext of failure and insolvency, then I 
should never smuggle away property and pretend to. 
have none, to defraud my creditors, and enrich myself 
on such ill-gotten gains. I might as well steal as do 
it, only the civil law wou d punish me in the one case, 
and would not reach me in the other. As I do not 
wish to be slandered by my neighbor, then I must not 
slander him. His good name is dear to him as mine is 
to me, and I ought not to injure nor destroy it, any 
more than I would have him destroy mine. As I 
can not bear backbiting, when it wounds myself, so I 
should not bite others, behind their backs, by "bitter 
words, to injure their characters. As I abhor covet- 
ousness from the depths of my soul, when I see it in 
others, I should abhor it no less in myself. If I do 
not wish my neighbor to keep a borrowed article an 
unreasonable length of time, and trouble me to ask for 
it, or to go after it, and then be offended because I 
take it away, so I should never subject him to such a 
trial. As I do not wish others to be jealous of me, or 
to think ihey do not enjoy my respect and affection, so 
I should avoid all jealous feelings, and endeavor to be 
worthy of that respect and affection which I desire. 
In short, those who would have others love them, must 
make themselves lovable, by manifesting a kind, Chris- 
tian disposition. As I wish nry neighbor to aid me in 
distress, so I am bound by this rule to aid him — as the 
kind Samaritan relieved the man robbed and half dead 
by the wayside. As I dislike to have advantage taken 



THE GOLDEN RULE. 101 

of my ignorance or necessity, to grind me in a bargain, 
or oppress me in ray wages, so I should avoid such 
treatment of others, remembering that mj* neighbor 
has as good a right to live as myself, and as good a 
right to be happy as myself, and that I have no more 
right to interfere with his happiness than he has with 
mine. As I do not wish to be under a taskmaster, and 
toil for bare subsistence, and be exposed in the market 
for sale, like a brute, so I should never thus treat a 
fellow being. Citizenship, freedom and family ties are 
as dear to him as lo me, and I have no more right to 
bind a yoke on his neck than he has on mine. The 
rule forbids it. Happy for the world, if it were every- 
where carried out among men. What a change would 
be effected in society ! How man}' prisons, almshouses, 
and tippling-shops would be vacated, and all the moral 
evils that afflict society be removed. It is not easy to 
trace out the limit of this antidote, if applied wherever 
it is needed in society. It would be found useful every 
day, everywhere, and by every person ; and it should 
be faithfully applied, as expressed in the beautiful lines 
of Dr. Watts : 

" Do good with all your soul and strength, 

With all your heart and mind, 
And love your neighbor as yourself — 

Be faithful, just and kind. 
Deal with another as you'd have 

Another deal with you ; 
What you're unwilling to receive, 

Be sure you never do." 

The illustrations presented, we think, afford abun- 
dant reasons for calling the text a Golden Utile. It is 



102 THE GOLDEN RULE. 

exceedingly valuable, and yet practically scarce among 
men. It is a most admirable rule, shining like a meri- 
dian sun in deeds of righteousness, wherever it is ap- 
plied. Everybody likes it, when exercised towards 
himself, even those whose selfishness hinders them from 
its practice toward others. Now, if everybody would 
do business by this rule, it would effect a most happy 
change in societ}-. Between this and the rules adopted 
by man}' in practical life, there is a striking contrast — 
particular^' those rules that may well be called iron, 
rough, heavy, unjust, cruel, and sinful in the sight of 
God. That such rules are practiced, all business peo- 
ple well know ; but it is by those whose hearts are as 
hard as the burr stone that grinds the wheat, and 
full of all selfishnesss and ungodliness. 

By some, this rule of our Savior is regarded as a 
hard rule to practice. But the trouble does not exist 
in the rule itself, but in the evil disposition of man's 
heart. Cure the moral heart disease in man, the palpi- 
tation of vile selfishness, and there would be no further 
difficulty in the practice of this rule. All under the 
light of the gospel, can see the great value of this rule, 
whether they practice it or not. If professed Chris- 
tians do not mind this rule, it will eat out their piety, 
as the moth eats woolen, or as the rust eats iron. This 
ma\* account for the scanty measure of it among some 
professed Christians. 

So valuable and important is this Golden Rule, in its 
practical bearings on every-day life, that it might 
property be engiaved on a golden plate, and worn by 
every business man, as railroad conductors and coach- 



tHE GOLDEN RULE. 103 

men wear their badges on their hats. It would not 
seem to be out of place to print it in large capitals, 
and hang it in every store and counting-room, so that 
all merchants and customers might read it in connec- 
tion with every business transaction ; or, to put it up 
in public houses, post-offices, and conspicuous places in 
the streets, as show-bills are posted ; or, to mark it in 
large capitals on our country's banner with the stars 
and stripes ; or, on the canvas of every vessel that 
floats upon the sea, that it might be read by all nations 
throughout the wide world. It would also be very ap- 
propriate to put it up in our National Capitol, in large 
golden letters, that all the members of Congress, and 
our government officials, might be familiar with this 
Golden Rule. Better still, would it be, to have it 
graven indelibly upon the tablet of memory, and their 
kept, ready for practice in all our intercourse with men. 
But, best of all, would it be to have it graven on the 
heart, where, once fixed, it will remain as a principle 
action while life lasts. 

Were this rule daily kept in mind, and faithfully 
practiced, it would prove to society an invaluable bless- 
ing. It ought to be joined, like the balance-wheel in 
machinery, by the belt of love, so as to become a part 
of the moral man. Is it thus joined to us? Its great 
value and divine authority we cannot deny. Do we, 
then, practice it? Is the heart right? For if this is 
right, all will be right. Has the heart been renovated 
b} r the Holy Spirit — the old man crucified — the rubbish 
of sin and iniquity taken out of the way, and this reg- 
ulating wheel put in its place? Let the screws of self- 



104 THE GOLDEN RULE. 

examination be put on with their full force, and if any 
one feels himself severely pressed, it is high time to 
correct the evil that gives the pain. 

There is abundant occasion to be thankful for this 
Golden Rule, and to practice it, in all our duties to- 
wards our fellow-men. Thank God, there are some 
men whom you can trust with gold uncounted, and 
who would not do you injustice at any price. Such 
are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. 
But this class of persons are the precious few, com- 
pared with the great mass of humanity. 

A remark here, by way of caution, may be needful. 
Let it be remembered that all the morality enjoined by 
the Golden Rule is rood, so far as it goes. Ic is an 
important part of true religion, but it is not the whole 
of it. It is not sufficient, alone, to carry the soul to 
heaven. If it was, then the strictly mora! man would 
have no need of Christ as a Savior. To the highest 
point of moral rectitude must be added, the true reno- 
vation of the heart by the Holy Spirit, and a transfer 
of the affections from earthly to heavenly things. Pure 
morality is the fruit of true godliness, and will be pro- 
duced by the soul that is grafted into Christ by faith 
and love, and renewed by the Spirit. Whoever may 
flatter himself with th.3 vain hope that he can build a 
tower with his good deeds, that will conduct him to 
heaven, is sure of disappointment. It will prove a 
failure, as did Babel, in which the post-diluvians de- 
signed to save themselves from a second deluge. 
Jesus is the sinner's refuge, and by faith and love he 
may be safe in Ilim, as in a strong tower — safe, come 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 105 

what will, the sunshine of prosperity, or the storms of 
adversity, joy or sorrow, life or death ; the soul of the 
true believer in Jesus is entirely secure. He is an un- 
failing friend, and "will give unto him eternal life ; and 
he shall never perish, neither shall any be able to pluck 
such out of His hand." 

In all our duties to our fellow-men, this Golden Rule 
of our Savior should be our guide. In all our duties 
to Him, as our God and Savior, his holy gospel, in 
every particular, should be made our rule of life, and 
then we shall have nothing to fear while living, dying 
or dead. 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 

Eph. ii : 8. — By grace are ye saved, through faith; 
and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God. 

A candidate for license to preach the gospel, in the 
course of his examination, was asked, "What is grace?" 
u Grace — that's what I call something for nothing. " 
This is a striking and an apt comment on the text. 
As usually understood, grace signifies unmerited favor 
and mercy manifested toward lost sinners, by the pro- 
vision and offers of pardon and salvation through Jesus 
Christ. 

The text, then, directly presents the doctrines of 
salvation by grace, which is a fundamental doctrine of 
the Christian system. In it are involved and brought 

to view several particulars, which serve to illustrate 

11 



106 SALVATION BY GRACE. 

and confirm it. In the first place, it brings to view 
man's lost condition as a sinner against God. The idea 
of salvation, in itself, implies that of being lost. If 
man was not in a lost state, he would have no need of 
salvation. But that this is his condition, is a truth 
clearly taught in the Scriptures. Christ " came to save 
that which was lost." Our whole race are represented 
as lost in sin. " They are all gone out of the way ; 
there is none righteous ; no, not one." That perfect, 
holy, moral image, planted in him when he was created, 
is gone, entirely gone ; so that " every imagination of 
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." 
u For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth 
good and sinneth not." Not to dwell on this point — 
the Scriptures plainly teach man's lost state as a sinner, 
and the idea of salvation directly implies it. 

Again : This doctrine brings to view man's danger- 
ous condition. Salvation includes the idea not only of 
being lost, but being in danger. -The Scriptures are 
explicit on this point. All the warnings and threaten- 
ings against the wicked, bespeak their danger. " The 
soul that sinneth it shall die." " The wicked shall be 
turned into hell " — " be cast into outer darkness " — 
" shall eat of the fruit of their own doings " — " shall 
be punished with everlasting destruction" — these fear- 
ful threatenings against the wicked emphatically give 
assurance of their dangerous condition, and that they 
are so lost as to greatly need salvation. But many 
sinners are slaw to take alarm, and flatter themselves 
that they are in no danger. If their property was in 
jeopardy, as are their souls, they would not rest with- 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 107 

out making every possible effort to secure it. They 
fear sickness, and strive to shun it ; they fear poverty, 
and make vigorous efforts to avoid it ; they fear death, 
and try to keep far off the king of terrors ; yet, in the 
mean time, seem to have little fear of sin, which is in- 
comparably more dangerous than all these evils com- 
bined. Though they ma}' stand behind the shield of 
unbelief, danger awaits them. 

Again : This doctrine brings to view man's justly 
condemned condition. As a sinner against God, he de- 
serves all the woes threatened against him in his Word. 
As sinners, we all need salvation, but we cannot de- 
serve it. If we did, we could claim it as our right, and 
then it would be no longer of grace. All the amiable 
qualities of the best unconverted sinners, are not suffi- 
cient to save them, even if added to all their good 
deeds ; still the violated law of God justly condemns 
them. To save a soul in sin, unpardoned, unwashed 
in the atoning blood of Christ, would be unjust to the 
sinner himself, and setting aside God's holy law as 
unreasonable in its demands. It would be trampling 
upon the Cross of Christ, and rejecting the gospel plan 
of salvation as valueless and vain. The justice of 
man's condemnation by the law of God, and his dan- 
gerous condition is clear as demonstration. 

Again : The doctrine in question brings to view 
man's dependent condition. Such is his dependence, 
that he cannot save himself. lie may desire to do it, 
and try to do it, but it is all in vain. So utterly lost 
is he, and so deeply sunk in the kW horrible pit and 
miry ('lay of sin," that he has not, the power to raise 



108 SALVATION BY GRACE. 

himself out of it. If he could, he would have no need 
of grace. Self-righteousness, in which some trust, is 
all worse than nothing, sinking the soul deeper in the 
pit of sin. Let the sinner try to save himself, to de- 
liver his soul from sin, and fill it with love to God, and 
the more he tries, the more he will feel the need of 
Christ's almighty arm to rescue him, and his blood to 
cleanse him from sin. If left to himself, man must 
perish — the whole race must perish. But the sinner 
does not like this dependence for salvation. He would 
prefer to have his own way, and rely upon his own 
powers. The gospel plan is not agreeable to the unre- 
newed heart. If man could save himself, there would 
be no need of a Savior, and no need of an atonement 
by his sufferings and death. Has it been made in vain ? 
But cannot the sinner deliver himself from sin by re- 
pentance? Surely not. Repentance is a necessary 
means, but not the ground of salvation. If repentance, 
which is mainly the sinner's act, could save him, it 
would be a self-salvation, and this would be in direct 
opposition to the plan by grace, and then he could take 
all the credit to himself, instead of giving to Christ the 
glory. Such is the condition of every lost sinner, that 
he is entirely dependent on Christ for salvation, in the 
use of the means specified in the gospel. " There is 
none other name given under heaven among men, 
whereby they must be saved." 

Again : The doctrine in question furthermore brings 
to view the fact that God is under no obligation to save 
sinners, unless they comply with the terms specified in 
the gospel. He has given no promise to save sinners 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 109 

on any other conditions. Is it said that an obligation 
rests on the ground of the sinner's dependence ? How 
can this beget obligation? If it could create an obli- 
gation, the sinner, on this ground, might claim salva- 
tion. But does he dare do this? Oh, no; he has no 
claim, because it is all of grace. Christ is able to save 
sinners. Does mere ability beget an obligation to do 
it? If it does, then the sinner has a claim, and if he 
has a claim on this ground, he may demand it. He may 
plead his deeds of self-righteousness, but these cannot 
lay Christ under any obligation to save him. But has 
not Christ promised to save sinners? Certainly; but 
on the terms he has made — repent, believe, love, and 
obey him. He is under obligation to fulfill his promise, 
when the conditions are performed, and he will do it. 
But he has made no unconditional promise in the case. 
u He that believeth shall be saved." This is a condi- 
tion. u He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
out." Here is a condition that must be performed, in 
order to secure the fulfilment of the promise, and this 
leaves it still a work of grace. If there is anything 
by which the sinner can merit and claim salvation, 
then it cannot be by grace, which would be a direct con- 
tradiction of the apostle in the text. This doctrine, 
therefore, rests on an immutable basis. " By grace 
are ye saved, through faith ; and that not of your- 
selves ; it is the gift of God." 

Tims we have seen that this doctrine under consider- 
ation brings to view man's lost condition as a sinner, 
his dangerous condition, his justly condemned condi- 
tion, his dependent condition, and the fact that God is 



110 SALVATION BY GRACE. 

under no obligation to save him, unless he complies 
with the terms of salvation specified in the gospel. 
These considerations suggest the remark that this plan 
of salvation is strikingly suited to the condition of the 
lost sinners. We can conceive of no other plan so 
happily adapted to their case. If it depended on man's 
own power alone, or on his self-righteous deeds, he 
would fail of it. Repentance alone cannot deliver the 
soul from sin ; for this would be discarding the atone- 
ment of Christ. No finite arm is adequate to the work. 
u Man is not redeemed by silver and gold ; but b}' the 
precious blood of Christ, " or as a gratuity offered to 
all, "without money and without price " — free as the 
air, the light, and all of grace. Hence it is suited as 
well to the poor as to the rich, to the ignorant as to 
the learned, to the subject as to the ruler. Most ad- 
mirabty and wonderfully is this plan, in all its features, 
suited to the wants of lost sinners. There is no good 
reason for the least dislike to it, and yet the unbeliev- 
ing heart sends out against it a current of opposition. 
That heart must be renovated by the power of the Holy 
Spirit, or the soul cannot be saved. Let it be remem- 
bered that all the means which the gospel requires to 
be used in the salvation of sinners, are of grace. The 
gospel given for this purpose was a gift of grace. 
Conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit, the regeneration 
of the heart, the sanctification of the soul, and eternal 
life, are all works and gifts of grace, through Jesus 
Christ. From beginning to end, in all its means and 
motives — from its foundation to its top-stone, which 
will be laid with joy and shouting, it is a marvelous 



SALVATION BY GRACE. Ill 

and mighty work of grace. It Is this that makes it 
such a wonderful work — that magnifies the benevolence 
and love of God in its execution. It is this character- 
istic, no doubt, that has excited the wonder of angels, 
and a desire to look into it ; which desire, it is prob- 
able, has been gratified. It will continue to be the 
wonder and the admiration of angels and of redeemed 
saints in heaven forever. On those unfading diadems, 
infinitely surpassing royal beaut}-, which grace will put 
upon the head of every saint, and which the\ T will delight 
to cast at the feet of Christ, will be written in shining 
capitals, Grace; brought here b}^ grace, "through 
faith in Christ Jesus." On their robes, " made white 
in the blood of the Lamb," will be inscribed, Grace; 
on their scepters, Grace; on their palms of victory, 
Grace. All the banners of the holy throng, as they 
march the golden streets of the heavenly Jerusalem, 
will present, as their motto of gratitude and praise to 
the Redeemer, Grace. In short, the great army of 
redeemed saints will be all written over in golden capi- 
tals, Grace, Grace, Gra.ce; while they chant with 
voices loud and sweet, " worthy is the lamb that was 
.slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing, for ever 
and ever." 

In this plan of salvation, there is much to support, 
the true believer under the temptations and trials of 

this life — much to strengthen his faith, and to give him 

some foretaste of heaven. This doctrine is calculated 
tO afford great peace and comfort to the dying saint. 
A certain Scotch minister, visiting a sick brother, said 



112 SALVATION BY GRACE. 

to him, "What are you doing, brother?" The answer 
was, " I am gathering together ail my prayers, all my 
sermons, all my good deeds and bad deeds ; and I am 
going to throw them all overboard, and swim to glory 
on the plank of free grace." 

Let no one imbibe the error that because salvation is 
all of grace, that he has nothing to do but to be a pas- 
sive recipient of it. This doctrine implies no such 
thing. It has already been observed that repentance, 
faith, love and obedience are necessary, in order to be- 
come partakers of this favor. Grace has opened the 
fountain, and the sinner is invited to come and drink. 
" Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ; 
and he that hath no money ; come ye, and buy wine 
and milk without roonej^ and without price." The feast 
is prepared, and all starving souls are invited to come 
and partake of it. Coming includes obedience to all 
the requirements of the gospel. Those who refuse to 
do this will be left to " eat the bitter fruit of their own 
doings," and perish in their sins. 

What is there in this gospel scheme of salvation 
against which one reasonable objection can be urged? 
Nothing — absolutely nothing. In every particular, it is 
admirably suited to the condition of lost sinners. Its 
means and motives are all adapted to the accomplish- 
ment of this great work. It is all of grace, through 
faith, that Christ may have all the glory. 

Have you been made a partaker of this grace, by re- 
pentance, and faith in Jesus Christ, and regeneration 
by the Holy Spirit? Let conscience speak, for it has a 
voice. Does it whisper : no, no ; as yet I have no 



SALVATION BY GRACE. 113 

property in this grace. Then your soul is in jeopard}', 
and you have no treasure in heaven, and your feet stand 
on the slippery heights of sin, beneath which an ocean 
of woe is rolling, and threatening to bury you in its 
waves of bitter lamentation forever. " The harvest is 
past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." 

What, then, will you do? Have you any claim on 
Christ, as a deliverer, because he is able, willing and 
ready to save ? None at all, until you have fulfilled the 
conditions of his promise, by coming to him, believing 
on him, and obejing his commands. You dare not in 
prayer name j-our good deeds, as the ground of pardon 
and deliverance from sin. If you should, you would 
not, you could not consistently depend on salvation 
through grace, which precludes all merit, and leaves the 
soul dependent on the righteousness of Christ. Haste, 
then, delay not to lay hold, by faith, on the hand of 
his mere}' and grace, extended to }x>ur rescue. There 
is no other efficient helper for the lost sinner, and no 
other is needed ; for he is all-sufficient, ever ready and 
willing to save to the uttermost all who come unto him. 
His sure promise is that those who come unto him, he 
will in no wise cast out. Believe this promise, obey its 
conditions, and }'OU will not fail to secure eternal sal- 
vation, by grace, through faith in Christ Jesus. 



ir> 



LECTURE, 



A certain man, on a certain occasion, went out into 
a wood-lot to get a stick of timber, which he had prom- 
ised for a certain purpose. The trees were plenty, but 
he was hard to be suited. One tree was too large, and 
would require too much labor to hew it down, to fit the 
place for which it was intended ; another was too small 
to suit the place ; another was not the right sort of 
wood — too soft — another too hard ; yet another was 
cross-grained and very knotty. Nothing seemed to 
suit. But it would not do to waste time in searching 
for a stick, lest it should be called for before it was 
read}'. So he stuck his axe into the tree nearest at 
hand, and felled it to the ground, and made the best 
thing of it he could in the time allotted for its prepara- 
tion. 

Now, Mr. P., G., and L., this illustrates the case of 
the speaker for this occasion. He found subjects for a 
lecture plenty, as the woodman did trees in the forest. 
But one was too large, and would require too much 
labor to prepare it, in the time allowed ; another not of 
the right sort ; another too hard to work without better 
intellectual tools ; another so cross-grained and knotty 
that it could not be worked against the prejudices of 
some minds, with any degree of smoothness. But 
time forbid delay, and so it was concluded to put right 



TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 115 

into the subject that was offered nearest at hand, which 
is this : 

TEMPER, PASSION, AND DISPOSITION. 

The temper is an important element in man's consti- 
tution. Without it, a man would be like an edge tool 
made of soft steel or iron, and of no value as a cutting 
instrument. The more temper }'ou can put into an 
edged tool — a knife or a razor — the keener will be the 
instrument, provided the edge does not break in the 
using. So in man, the higher his temper, the keener, 
usually, his intellect, and the smarter the man, if it 
does not break out into foolish passion, or if suitably 
governed. Some persons have not temper enough to 
make them energetic and vigorous, and resemble the 
man referred to by John B. Gough, in a lecture, of 
whom he said, }T>u could not drive a joke into him with 
a sledge-hammer. Now, if I was about to make a 
smart man (supposing I could do it), I would put into 
him a very high temper, and in the meantime, give him 
a good disposition to govern it. Just think what a man 
would be without temper — a mere putty head ; so soft 
and inefficient in society that he would be like a cipher 
at the left hand of a decimal fraction, diminishing its 
value in a ten-fold proportion. True, you sometimes 
find an ugly temper where there is a lack of brains; but 
you cannot find a man of keen intellect and energy <>[' 
Character, who has not a keen temper. 

It may be well to explain the distinction between 

temper and passion and disposition. By temper is 

meant l< the condition of the mind in regard to the 



116 TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 

passions and affections." By passion is meant " a vio- 
lent agitation or excitement of mind," or temper kin* 
died into a flame. The office of the disposition u is to 
regulate, direct, and to govern " the temper, and to keep 
it from breaking out into passfon. 

Where there is a bad disposition, the temper will not 
be properly governed. A bad temper and disposition 
are fitly represented b}^ cross-grained lumber. For ex- 
ample, take a board and you can plane it smooth, if 
you take it with the grain ; but turn the board and push 
the plane against the cross-grained surface, and it will 
make a stout resistance, choke the instrument, and defy 
your efforts to make it smooth. So a bad temper and 
disposition must be worked with the grain, or the per- 
son have his own w r ay and say, or you cannot get along 
with him smoothly. No sooner do you oppose his 
wishes, than you find it as hard to influence him as it is 
to plane a board across the grain. To manage such a 
disposition, in adults or in children, you must either 
work them with the grain, that is, please them by their 
having their own way, or use the double iron of com- 
pulsion, so that resistance is impossible. Whether 
there is any way to prevent trees from growing cross- 
grained, we do not know ; but the disposition in chil- 
hood is susceptible of great improvement, by proper 
treatment. 

Now, to give some characteristics and illustrations of 
ill-governed tempers, as they are manifested in common 
life. The first suggested to notice is what may be de- 
nominated the porcupine temper. Those who are ac- 
quainted with this little animal, know that its body is 



TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 117 

covered with hard, sharp quifls, many of them from six 
to ten inches long. When exposed to danger or ex- 
cited to anger, he rolls himself up in the form of a ball, 
putting his head out of sight, so that not a dog, nor 
even a lion, can bite him without having his mouth 
filled with quills ; and they find it best to let this little 
animal alone. Now, there is a sort of ill-governed 
temper in some men, that will bristle up like this animal, 
and nobody likes to meddle with such a character, lest 
he should get wounded with the hard and sharp quills 
of abusive and insulting words. 

The chestnut burr is a familiar article — a little ball 
full of sharp prickles, standing out all over its surface, 
so that you would not like to take it in your hand, un- 
less you held it carefully, or with a leather glove on 
your hand ; and were it not for the sweet nut inside, 
you would not wish to touch it at all. Now, there are 
persons who have something of the sweet nut in them, 
as good neighbors and good citizens, while 3*011 please 
them. But it is necessaiy to handle them easy, as they 
are exceedingly sensitive and excitable to contradiction. 
Charge such a person with falsehood, and you will in- 
stantly stir up his temper into passion. If he owes you 
borrowed money, take care how you dun him when he 
is " hard up," or he will sting you, like a chestnut burr, 
with sharp words. If 30U endorsed a note or bond for 
him, when he urged you with tears in his eyes, and lair 
promises, if you would oblige him, and ask him, in 
his embarrassment, to redeem his promise, his ill-temper 
will break out into fiery passion, and yon might as well 
meddle with a chestnut burr as to dun him for a debt, 



118 TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 

Man} 7 a business man knows that this is not a mere 
picture of the imagination. 

Ill-governed temper renders some persons exceed- 
ingly unhappy, and often mischievovs. Zoroaster, 
though a profound philosopher, is said to have carried 
his irritability so far, as to break a marble table to 
pieces with a hammer, because he happened to stumble 
over it in the dark. There was a celebrated king, who, 
when anything occurred to excite his temper, would fall 
upon the floor and scream and kick and tear his hair 
like a mad man. Thus his temper blazed into passion, 
in his folly. Another case was that of a farmer, who 
had a high temper. He was gathering hay, to secure it 
from a threatened shower. The black clouds rolled up, 
the thunder admonished him, and the wind burst forth, 
sporting with the hay, which the old man was laboring 
with all his might to rescue from the rain. But vain 
were his efforts, for the wind scattered the hay as fast 
as he gathered it. Becoming discouraged, he let his 
temper fly into a passion, and hurling his rake with the 
flying hay, exclaimed, in fierce anger, "There! take 
rake and all." He quit the field and left the hay to the 
merc\ T of the wind and the shower. Such is the folly 
6f Ll-governed temper — getting offended with the wind. 
Far better is it to keep the temper always in subjection, 
and not allow it to flj 7 into a passion, at the various 
annoyances of life. 

Another sort of temper may be characterized as the 
gunpowder temper. This differs from the last-named, 
chiefly, in that it is quicker in its operations. Gun- 
powder is a mighty and often a hateful power ; yet it 



TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 119 

is often useful when properly controlled, So temper 
is useful when properly governed, but hateful when it 
is suffered to fly into a passion. A single spark of 
contradiction will sometimes excite such a temper into 
a foolish and hateful explosion. It waits net for apol- 
ogy, but explodes by the first spark of opposition that 
touches it ; and usually leaves a black stain on the ex- 
ploder himself — a mark of his own weakness and foil}'. 
Some, like the man who hit his head against a beam, 
because he did not stoop low enough to clear it, will 
turn back in anger and strike the beam. If a public 
speaker says something the} 7 dislike, they will go out 
with heavy steps, and slam the door after them, and 
go muttering away in anger. This slamming the door 
in a passion is what Tom Hood called a "wooden 
oath." It is said that a certain distinguished musician 
was called to display his skill before the King; and 
just as he begun to play, the King's clock struck. This 
excited the anger of the musician, and he instantly 
struck the clock, which was in a glass case, and dashed 
it to pieces. For this, the King sharply rebuked him. 
But he replied: " May it please your Majesty; the 
clock struck first," " lie that is soon angry," says the 
wise man, " dealeth foolishly." When you meet per- 
sons of this temper, beware how you touch them off 
with a match of contradiction or insult, lest you are 
repaid with a severe explosion. 

Another specimen of bad temper may be character- 
ized as the tornado temper. Thi8 differs from the gun- 
powder, chiefly, in that it is not so quickly excited, and 
in being exceedingly boisterous and overbearing when 



120 TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 

in exercise. Like the wind in a hurricane, it breaks 
forth with a furious blast, and pours forth the hail- 
stones of its wrath upon its victim. The language is 
vehement and profane — bitter epithets, brick-bats of 
slander, clubs of envy and malice are thrown out like 
the lava from a volcano, threatening to overwhelm all 
in its course. Such a temper, let loose, is foolish and 
mischievous. But it is usually of short duration, pass- 
ing off as the wind of passion abates. This kind of 
temper often leads to the abuse of animals, as cattle 

and horses. A noble horse in the city of was 

most cruelly beaten about the head, with a heavy whip- 
stock, by the worse than brutal driver, for not doing 
what was utterly beyond the power of the horse to do. 
Some ladies passing, remonstrated against such cruelty, 
but were repaid by a volley of horrid oaths, for med- 
dling with his business. He behaved like a man with- 
out reason or sensibility, letting his ugly temper blaze 
into furious passion against the poor, dumb animal. 
Such behavior deserves the castrations of civil law. 
There was a law passed by the Legislature of Massa- 
chusetts in 1868, to prevent cruelty to animals ; and a 
similar law in New Hampshire, in 1870, and there is 
often occasion for its application to ill-tempered driv- 
ers, who are more brutal than the brutes themselves. 
This sort of temper, excited into passion, seems to 
take reason all out of a man ; and you might as well 
undertake to reason with the wind of a tornado as with 
him — like the man who got angry with his neighbor. 
The conciliatory neighbor said to him, " If I have 
wronged you, I am willing to give you satisfaction, " 



TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 121 

The angry neighbor let his passion fly, saying, " I 
won't take up with satisfaction." It is of no use to 
try and reason with such a man, till the flame of pas- 
sion has subsided. 

Another species of ill-temper may be characterized 
as the soapstone temper. The soapstone is remarkable 
for retaining heat. So this sort of temper is sullen 
and sulk}', and holds on, often, for a long time, and is 
not willing to forgive or forget an offence. If you put 
into a soapstone stove a big stick of wood, it will last 
all day and perhaps all night, and the stove will keep 
warm for hours after the fire is out. Take a man of 
this soapstone temper and put into his stomach a big 
knot of offence, and it will last remarkably. His stub- 
born will is likely to join with his temper, and working 
together, are hard to subdue. Such is the power of the 
human will, when it is set by ill-temper, that if it could 
be utilized, like water or steam-power, would drive all 
the machinery in all the mills and shops in New Eng- 
land. When one will is set up against another will, as 
is often the case, and stimulated by passion, the}' will 
fight like two armies, exchanging shots of insults and 
abuse, till both are greatly injured in their folly, if not 
ruined. There is a tremendous power in man's will, as 
illustrated in the case of the man who engaged in the 
profession of a minister ; but such was his success, that 
he continued in poverty, and became discouraged. He 
then became a physician, and trying this profession a 
while, still continued poor. Next he engaged in the 
legal profession, and in time, as a lawyer, he became, 
rich. A friend inquired of him how it happened that, 
10 



122 TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 

as a lawyer, he became wealth} 7 , while, as a minister 
and a physician, he was alwajs poor. His reply was, 
that he found people were more anxious to get their 
wills, than they were to save both body and soul. 

When a stubborn will and a bad temper work to- 
gether, for a long time, they are apt to defy all opposi- 
tion to subdue them. This soapstone temper is pecu- 
liar in its operations. Sometimes its possessor will 
not speak, nor reciprocate one of the civilities of gen- 
tlemanly life, hut turn away, mumpish and dumpish, 
regardless of all proposals for reconciliation. There 
are some children of this sort of temper, who, if they 
get angry in sport or play, will pcut their lips, and 
turn on the heel and won't pla} r . You cannot reason 
with them with any success until their passions cool. 
Such children and older persons are disagreeable com- 
panions. Sometimes, in a choir, or in a music band, a 
member takes offence, and will not sing or play, and is 
obtuse to all you bay, as an organ with all the stops 
closed. Puff away with the bellows of kind entreaty, 
but you cannot move him till the stops are drawn and 
the evil passion is blown off. 

This soapstone temper is illustrated by the case of a 
man who had a quarrel with his neighbor, and who had 
kept up his animosity for years, holding the heat of 
anger unsubdued. Being seized with alarming sick- 
ness, he sent for the neighbor, and calling him to his 
bedside, said, as he was about to die, he wished to have 
their difficulty so settled that he could depart in peace. 
He appeared very penitent, asked forgiveness, aad the 
whole matter was considered settled.. As the neighbo 



TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 123 

was about bidding him farewell, the sick man said to 
him : " I want you to remember that, if I get well, all 
this goes for nothing ; and I will have it out with you 
yet." This proved that his will and temper were not 
subdued, and that he was only playing the hypocrite 
with his neighbor. When this soapstone temper has 
once excited against you, it is uncertain whether you 
can ever conquer it, so as to nv ke the person again 
your hearty friend. He may retain his heat for years, 
and at some moment you ^little suspect, like a snake in 
the grass, give you a bite of bitter revenge. 

One other sort of ill-governed temper is character- 
ized as the peevish or fretful temper. This is very dif- 
ferent from the last. While that is reticent and mump- 
ish, this is remarkable for loquacit}-, and multiplies 
words like " the droppings of a rainy day." Trifles 
often excite it. Some parents illustrate it in the family 
circle. Some school-teachers, also, by a constant fret- 
ting at their ill-disposed pupils. An ill-tempered and 
fractious teacher, troubled with a noise in his school, 
thought he knew who was the guilty boy, and in angry 
haste seized and whipped a boy severely. When he 
ceased applying the rod, the boy turned round and 
laughed. "What do you mean?'' said the teacher; 
" 3'ou scoundrel — laugh, will you? What do you 
mean?" " Got the wrong boy, sir." Thus the teacher 
in his rashness was betrayed into injustice by his ill- 
governed temper. No teacher can govern a school 
well, who does not govern himself. If provoked by 
ugly pupils, and angry enough to bite oil* a nail, he 
should keep cool and self-possessed, controlling all evil 



124 TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 

passions. The same principle applies to family gov- 
ernment. If parents are peevish and fretful, like hot 
lard when water is dashed into it, venting an ugly tem- 
per by rash conduct, they will fail to make their house- 
hold good and happy. It will make children feel as did 
the little boy, who said he did not want to go to heaven 
if his grandfather was there, because he would be al- 
ways fretting and scolding at him. Fretful old people 
make themselves very disagreeable to children and 
youth. Some children, if parents restrain them from 
having their own way — from going when and where 
they please, staying as long as the}^ please, and com- 
ing when they please ; will tease and fret, and say, 
"You never let me go anywhere. Others go; why 
can't I? If you don't let me, the boys will laugh at 
me, and say you are tied up by your mother's apron 
strings." So the naughty boy goes pouting and fret- 
ting away, like a bunch of 4th of July Chinese crackers, 
all ignited at once. Such ill -governed temper, if not 
subdued in childhood, is apt to be carried through life. 
The advice given to an angry boy by a sailor, is worth 
remembering. The boy had let his temper fly into a 
furious passion. The sailor called to him, "Come here, 
boy; I have something to tell you." " What is it?" 
said the boy. "You were in a passion, my young buck, 
and I thought, in case you don't know it, I would tell 
you." "Well, you are not far wrong," replied the boy. 
" That's right," said the sailor, " always confess when 
you are wrong." " Now," said the sailor, " mind this 
bit of advice, and never get into a passion, if 3-0 u can 
help it ; and when you can't help it, give a great roar, 



TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 125 

and let off the steam, and turn about and run with all 
your might. Passion has no legs, and can't hold on to 
a fellow when running. ,, All boys should beware of 
giving vent to bad temper, and learn while young to 
keep it in subjection. 

Fretting sometimes becomes a habit, and then it is 
hard to suppress it. This was the case with th2 old 
lad}' who got offended with the doctor, who was attend- 
ing on a sick child. She scolded and fretted, saying 
she " never seed sich a bad doctor" ; she wouldn't have 
him doctor her old cat ; and she hoped the child would 
die, that the people might see what a bad doctor they 
had. Thus the old lady made herself ridiculous b}' let- 
ting fly her ugly temper. Fretting does no good, re- 
pairs no evil, and makes the fretter exceedingly un- 
happy. It happened that two neighbors had their peas 
killed b}' a frost. One of them planted more forthwith. 
The other was provoked, and fretted. But he soon 
saw his neighbor had more peas growing. " What," 
said the fretter, u did not the frost kill your peas?" 
u Yes, but while you were fretting, I planted more." 
11 But don't you ever fret ? " fc ' Yes, but I put it off till 
I have repaired the evil." u Why, then there is no 
need of fretting at all." " Very true ; and that's the 
reason why I put it off." This is a good practical les- 
son, showing the folly of letting loose ill temper. Hut 
this is sadly common. Neighbor often ftets against 
neighbor, because his children trouble him, or his sheep 
or cattle vex him, or because the crows pulled up his 
corn, or the hoy left the bars down, the gale open, or 
the kitchen door on a cold day. Some fret because 



126 TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 

business is dull, or customers pass their door and trade 
elsewhere. Evils abound everywhere, but fretting 
never cures them. Often it makes them worse, and 
makes the fretter unhappy. 

If you should say these facts and illustrations give a 
dark picture of human nature, it is admitted, but it 
is believed to be a true one. Some one has aptly 
said that " there is a great deal of human nature in 
mankind." Often it is manifested in fretting at the 
common vexations of life. It is said that intoxicating 
liquor has a peculiar influence on the temper. A re- 
formed drunkard said that if he felt pleasant and good- 
natured when he began to drink, it would stimulate that 
feeling, and he was good-natured duiing the whole 
spree. But if he felt cross and angry when he began 
to drink, it stimulated that feeling, and he felt cross 
while the spree lasted. If so with all drunkards, they 
should take care to be in pleasant temper when they 
take the first glass. A young man of intemperate 
habits said that rum itself was ill-tempered and quarrel- 
some. When he drank one glass, he said it was so 
lonely in his stomach that he had to send down another 
to keep it company. But s on the two glasses would 
get into a quarrel, and fight so bad that he had to send 
down a third glass to settle the trouble. Still the fight 
was kept up, and two glasses turned against one, which 
was not fair play ; and he had to pat down a fourth 
glass to make the parties equal. Then they all four 
joined together, and turned with all their power against 
him ; and he was completely conquered, Thus it is 
that intoxicating liquors conquer and ruin thousands of 



TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 127 

poor inebriates. There is great danger in the first 
glass, which always craves company. 

There is, yet, another sort of temper, differing from 
all these, and which may be designated as the sunny tem- 
per. This is always pleasant, because well governed. It 
may be a high or keen temper in itself, yet so perfectly 
controlled that it never flies into a passion, come what 
will. It never frets, nor quarrels, nor breaks out in 
abusive language against evil-doers ; but bears insults 
with meekness, and maintains a bold and calm dignity, 
like that of our Saviour, who, " when he was reviled, 
reviled not again. " He always controlled his temper 
under the greatest insults. Yet, it was not through 
fear nor pusillanimity, but a high and holy dignity of 
character. The sunny temper is illustrated in the case 
of the man whose fretting and scolding wife came at 
him with a broomstick. He kept calm all the while, 
and was asked how he could so patiently bear all that. 
He replied, " It don't hurt me, and amuses her." The 
old philosopher, Socrates, it is said, always kept his 
temper in subjection, while his wife, Xantipe, was ex- 
ceedingly ill-tempered, and a terrible scold, and Beemed 
to delight in tormenting her husband. In one of her 
angry fits, she poured out a torrent of abuse on the 
good man's head ; yet he took it all quietly, and went 
out and sat down by the door of his house, calm as the 
glassy pool. This calmness vexed the old jade more, 
and seizing a vessel of water, she ran up stairs, and 
dashed the water, with all her fury, upon his head. Still 
he controlled his temper, and only smiled at her folly, 
saying, " So much thunder must needs produce a 



128 TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 

shower." He was a complete master of his temper, 
and knew how to manage a scolding wife. When Soc- 
rates received a box on the ear, he kept his temper 
and smiled, remarking, u It is a pity we don't know 
when to put on a helmet." 

Sir Isaac Newton gave a striking manifestation of 
this sunny temper. When his favorite dog (Dimon) 
upset a candle in his study among papers of great 
value, which had cost him years of labor, and burned 
them to ashes, without punishing the dog, he exclaimed, 
" O Dimon ! Dimon ! you little know what mischief 
you have done." How much better this, than to have 
blazed into passion at the poor dog, which could have 
done no good. What better could he do than to take 
it coolly ? This is the best philosophj' and practice in 
all such cases of provocation. 

The sunny temper always contributes to happiness, 
while the ill-governed temper makes its possessor 
wretched. During the fit of anger let loose, he feels 
terribly — like the Indian, who said, "As I am, I weigh 
150 pounds ; but when I am mad, I weigh a ton." 

But is it not right to exercise the temper which God 
has given us? No doubt it is ; but, like an edge tool, 
we are bound to be careful how we use it. " Be angry 
and sin not," is a divine command, and the meaning is, 
when provoked to anger, take care that you do not sin 
b} r saying or doing what is foolish or wicked. "Let 
not the sun go down upon your wrath." " He that is 
slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is 
hasty of spirit exalteth folly." "He that controleth 
his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city." 



TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 129 

Happy, indeed, are those of a hasty temper who 
have a good disposition and a will to control it. But 
such temper, ungoverned, whether in society or in the 
family, proves a thorn of trouble. A popular lecturer 
once said that " an ill-tempered and keen-tongued wife 
was to the husband like a wasp in his hat, that would 
buzz and stin£ him with her fretting words." The 
story and popular song of " Johnny Sands," who was 
of a sunny temper, while his wife was famous as an 
ill-tempered fretter, illustrates this part of our subject : 
" He married Betty Hague, who was an intolerable 
scold. He soon got tired of her, and she got tired of 
him." To get rid of her, he threatened to drown him- 
self. She said she wished he would. " Well, then," 
said he, "I'll stand upon the brink of the river, and 
then you run down the hill, and push me in with all 
your might." " Oh, I will, 1 will," said she. " But," 
said Johnny, " lest I should swim ashore and save mv 
life, just tie my hands behind my back." u Oh, yes, 
I will, I will," said she; and " she tied them fast, as 
you may guess." He then stood upon the bank of the 
river, and as she ran down to push him in, u he stepped 
aside, and she fell in, of course." Then she splashed 
and cried and begged, t; O Johnny ! Johnny ! save my 
life!" kt I can't, my dear, for you have 4 tied my 
hands," affectionately replied the sunny tempered man, 

A very striking manifestation of the sunny temper 
occurred in the Senate Hall of the United States, by 
the Hon. Win. II. Seward, who was Secretary of State 
under President Lincoln. lie made a speech about the 

telegraph, to which Mr. Toombs, of GrOOrgia, replied, 
17 



130 TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 

full of anger and personal abuse of Mr. Seward. On 
taking bis seat, Mr. Seward arose, and all eyes were 
fixed upon him, to see what he would do or say, sup- 
posing him to be very angry. With dignified steps he 
walked towards Mr. Toombs, keeping his right hand 
under the rear pocket of his coat. Some thought he was 
intending to draw a pistol and shoot Mr. Toombs, and 
his friends gathered around to protect him. As Mr. 
Seward came near, instead of a pistol, he drew out a 
snuff-box, saying, "Take a pinch; it will sooth your 
agitation, Mr. Toombs." Smitten with profound as- 
tonishment, Mr. Toombs exclaimed, " 'My God, Sew- 
ard ! have you no feelings ?' Mr. Seward calmly re- 
turned to his seat, and without any notice, or even an 
allusion to Mr. Toombs' speech, made an able argu- 
ment in favor of his measure, which was successfully 
carried." Such calmness and self control will always 
triumph over ill-temper and angry words. 

Temper should be educated, by a constant care to 
keep it under control by a good disposition. Persons 
of a pleasant disposition will do it, and never allow their 
temper to explode into foolish passion. By proper 
training the highest temper may be made sunny. The 
case of Whitelock, who was sent by Cromwell as an 
envoy to Sweden, when the affairs of England were 
in a distracted state, illustrates this point. Stopping 
on the way to rest for the night, on retiring to rest 
Whitelock could not sleep. His servant in bed near 
him, observing his master's restlessness, said, "Pray, 
Sir, may I ask you a question?" "Certainly," was 
the reply. "Pray, Sir, don't you think God governed 
the world very well before yon came into it?" "Un- 



TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 131 

doubted'y." "Pray, Sir, don't you think he will govern 
it quite as well when you have gone out of it?" "Cer- 
tainly." "Then, Sir, pray excuse me, don't you think 
you may as well trust him to govern it as long as you 
live?" To this, Whitelocfc, seeing the point, made no 
reply, but soon fell asleep quietly till morning. Thus 
by the wisdom, sunny disposition, and kind words of his 
servant, he gained a profitable lesson. God rules over 
all rulers with infinite wisdom ; and in this fact, those 
who trust in him .find sweet repose under trials. 

The London Quaker had so educated his temper, that 
an ill-tempered merchant could not draw him into a 
quarrel. Calling at his house, he asked a servant if 
bis master was at home. The merchant, hearing, called 
out at the top of his voice, 4 *Tell the rascal I am not 
at home." '-Well friend," said the Quaker, "God put 
thee in a better mind." Struck by this meek reply, the 
merchant confessed his error, and the difficulty was at 
once settled. "Tell me now," said the nierchair, "how 
you could bear with patience, the abuse I gave you?" 
"Friend, I will tell thee. I was hot and violent as 
thou art. I knew it was sinful to indulge this temper, 
and I observed that men in a passion always speak loud 
and I thought if I could control my voice, I could re- 
press my passion. So I make it my rule never to raise 
my voice above a certain key, and thus, by God's bles- 
sing, I have entirely mastered my temper." Such self- 
control of the temper is an admirable trait of char- 
acter ; and is attainable by every person, through 
faithful discipline. 

Julius CsBSar was a memorable example of cultivated 
and self-controlled temper. When he was offended, it 



132 TEMPER, PASSION AND DISPOSITION. 

is said, he would repeat the whole Roman alphabet be- 
fore he suffered himself to speak, and thus he com- 
pletely governed his temper. An ill temper should be 
restrained by the curb rein and bit of a good disposi- 
tion, as the vicious horse is controlled, or it will be 
sure to bring trouble. 

Litigation, or battles fougat in the law, often grow 
out of ill-temper ignited into passion ; and the parties 
often fare like the two cats who applied to justice mon- 
key to divide the cheese. Murders are iisualty the off- 
spring of a fit of anger, excitea perhaps by intoxicat- 
ing drink. Then assault by some deadly weapon is the 
result of anger let loose, and stabbing, shooting and 
murder follow. Duels have originated from the same 
source — some trivial insult kindled anger into furious 
passion — a challenge accepted — a fight, and one or 
both of the parties become murderers. 

Ill-temper and passion occasion more mischief, and 
are more to be feared than all the poisonous plants and 
poisonous reptiles in the world. No good comes from 
ill-governed temper. It affords no happiness, puts no 
money in the pocket, begets no desirable reputation, 
and is only evil to man and highly displeasing to God. 

But every body likes the exhibition of the sunny 
temper, whether they manifest it in their own conduct 
or not. It is always lovely and loveable — the honey 
of domestic and social life, and often sweetens a bitter 
cup. The wise man wisely said, u He that is slow to 
anger, is better than the mighty ; and he that ruleth 
his own spirit, than he that taketh a city." But on 
the other hand, u He that hath no rule over his own 
spirit is like a city broken down and without walls." 






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